Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34408802›Full record

ArticleThe Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale2021

A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study of the Performance of the Widal Test and the Typhidot Immunoassay for Typhoid Fever Diagnosis in the West Region of Cameroon.

Karimo Ousenu, Innocent Mbulli Ali, Leonard Fonkeng Sama, Marcel Nsangou Ndam, Thibau Florant Tchouangueu, Christopher Bonglavnyuy Tume

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Diagnostic accuracy of three tests forPreventive medicine reports · 2025
    Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Epidemiology and Performances of Typhidot Immunoassay and Widal Slide Agglutination in the Diagnosis of Typhoid Fever in Febrile Patients in Bafoussam City, Cameroon: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study.The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale · 2024
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Karimo OusenuResearch Unit of Microbiology and Antimicrobial Substances, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon.
Innocent Mbulli AliResearch Unit of Microbiology and Antimicrobial Substances, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1112-6376
Leonard Fonkeng SamaResearch Unit of Microbiology and Antimicrobial Substances, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2108-5563
Marcel Nsangou NdamDschang District Hospital, Dschang Health District, Dschang, West Region, Cameroon.
Thibau Florant TchouangueuResearch Unit of Microbiology and Antimicrobial Substances, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5333-706X
Christopher Bonglavnyuy TumeResearch Unit of Microbiology and Antimicrobial Substances, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon.
Université de Dschang · CMUniversité de Yaoundé I · CM

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe diagnosis of typhoid fever based on the Widal slide agglutination test remains a major hurdle in developing countries due to varied perceptions of the value of the Widal test in determining clinical decision-making. We undertook a study to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the Widal test and the Typhidot immunoassay in patients suspected of having typhoid fever in the Menoua division, West Region of Cameroon.

methodsBlood and stool samples were collected from 558 consenting febrile patients on the basis of suspicion of typhoid fever. These patients attended three district health services of the Menoua division between April 2018 and September 2019. These patients had clinical symptoms suggestive of typhoid fever as determined by their consultant. Serum was used for the Widal slide agglutination test and for the Typhidot rapid immunoassay test based on manufacturer's guidelines. A composite reference of fever plus positive coproculture for

resultsOf 558 patients, 12.90% tested positive for the reference method, 57.17% tested positive for the Widal slide agglutination test, while 15.59% were positive for Typhidot-IgM. The overall sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of the positive and negative tests were 80.56%, 94.03%, 66.6%, and 97.03% for Typhidot-IgM and 94.44%, 48.35%, 21.32%, and 98.33% for the Widal slide agglutination test, respectively. Cohen's kappa estimates were 0.1660 (0.121-0.211) and 0.386 (0.312-0.460) for the Widal test and Typhidot immunoassay for 53.6% and 76.16% agreements of all observations, respectively.

conclusionThe Widal test was found to have a lower predictive value for the diagnosis of typhoid fever in our setting. However, the Typhidot test, although better, was not ideal. Diagnosis of typhoid fever should therefore rely on adequate clinical suspicion and a positive Typhidot test to improve the clinical management of typhoid fever in our setting.

Identifiers

PMID34408802
PMCPMC8367591
OpenAlexW3188704381

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.