Investigation of typhoid fever and their associated risk factors in children

Typhoid fever is a communicable disease transmitted by the bacteria Salmonella typhi, related to serotype paratyphi A, B and C. The disease is a significant health concern in most developing countries especially Cameroon.

Objectives: The study aimed at assessing the risk factors associated to typhoid fever in children (0-18 years) attending the “Deo Gratias” hospital in Douala.

Method: A hospital based cross sectional study from August to September 2018 was carried out in children aged 0-18 years suffering from typhoid fever at the Deo gratias Catholic hospital. Widal slide agglutination and stool culture were the diagnostic test used. Positive confirmed cases were administered questionnaires to evaluate the level of knowledge, attitude and practice toward the disease. Data obtained from respondents was analyzed by descriptive statistics. One-way ANOVA and means comparison using Tukey’s test (α = 0.05) was performed to check whether the population of respondents differed significantly across risk factor practices. Results were finally presented on bar charts, tables and pie chart.

Results: Out of 64 patients tested for typhoid, 44 (68.75 %) were confirmed positive. Typhoid fever was more prevalent in females (52.3 %) than in males (47.7 %), with a high proportion in the ages 5-9 years (38.6 %). A significant difference was observed in population of respondents across risk factor practices.

Conclusion: Water quality have a great impact on the burden of typhoid fever among children. The identification of risk factors associated to the disease is of great importance in the development of rational control strategies of the disease.