Journal of Ecosystem & Ecography
Open Access

Abstract

Introduction: Developing nations share the highest burden of dengue or typhoid due to expeditious population growth, and restrained safe water and health systems. Laboratory diagnosis of enteric fever includes Blood culture, Stool Culture, and Serological test. Blood culture is accounted as the gold standard. Easy availability and ubiquitous use of antibiotics make it frequently difficult to isolate the organism from blood culture. Widal test is the commonest test in developing countries. Materials and Methods: 50 serum specimens of the patients presented with acute febrile illness & dengue NS1 positive were taken in the year 2017 at Bansal Hospital, New Delhi. All these patients conferred with acute febrile illness and with the symptoms common to both typhoid and dengue. The tests applied to the actual diagnosis were a Widal test, typhi dot, NS1 Ag and dengue serology (IgG and IgM). Results: Of the 50 febrile sera samples tested here all were NS1 positive. Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was zero. Around 50% of patients were less than 18 years. 32 NS1 positive patients had platelet counts less than 50000 (64%) but none of them showed dribble in platelets below 20000. Widal positive cases were 7 out of 50 (14%) dengue positive patients. 5 out of 7 patients were typhidot IgM positive (71.4 %). 6 widal positive cases were less than 14 years of age. Samples from these 7 widal positive cases were repeated for next day to see the increasing titer. 2 out of 7 patients which were typhidot positive showed increasing titers (28.57%). Conclusion: While diagnosing a dual infection of typhoid and dengue, we should rely on 2 or 3 screening tests for typhoid. Increasing titers should be retained in mind. Both dengue and typhoid may lead to many complications if not diagnosed and handled promptly and can be lethal.

Biography

Ashima chugh is a gold medalist & consultant pathologist in one of the multispecialty hospitals in Delhi. She has completed her senior residency from GB Pant Hospital, New Delhi. She has keen interest in clinical pathology & microbiology. Her research papers have been published in national & international journals.

E-mail: chughashima@yahoo.com