Selected laboratory tests in febrile patients in Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

A study was undertaken to determine the role of typhoid in febrile illness. It was found that in 1992, Salmonella typhi, the causative agent of typhoid, played a 2.3% role in 25404 diagnostic specimens sent to Mulago Hospital, Kampala, the largest hospital in Uganda. The rates of isolation fell gradually from 2.3% in 1992 to 0.3% by 1995. Instead malaria was found to play a major role in febrile illnesses. Out of 355 patients attending a private clinic in Kampala, whose blood was examined for both malaria and typhoid, 97% were positive for malaria parasites compared to 0.84% with significant O and H Salmonella typhi antibody titres of > 1:80. Also malaria parasites were found in 60% (out of 105) of patients who had had persistent fevers and in whom doctors had also requested for HIV antibodies. Those who had HIV antibodies alone were six per cent and the ones with both were 28%, a finding which showed relatively low association of malaria and HIV. Where multiple tests were requested on one patient having general malaise or body joint pains and/or constant headaches, malaria was found to play a major role (73%) compared to syphilis (4.3%) and brucellosis (13.3%). Malaria parasites were seen in normal sizes and in somehow young or stunted forms. The latter were found more often in patients who had experienced one or a combination of the following: intermittent fevers, backache, headache, tiredness, joint and/or neck pains, and who had already received treatment for malaria.