Prevalence of malaria and typhoid fever and coinfection in all febrile patients attending at tertiary care hospital in Vadodara

Abstract

Malaria and typhoid fevers are common disorders of tropical countries, which can lead to substantial morbidity and mortality. It is an important cause of fever in India. The prevalence of malaria, typhoid, and their coinfection was studied at a tertiary care, rural-based teaching hospital. A total of 1,378 blood samples from febrile patients in whom initial diagnosis was of either malaria or typhoid fever were analyzed at the Department of Microbiology, SBKS Medical Institute and Research Centre, Pipalia, (District: Vadodara), India. The blood samples received from the outpatient department and also from the inpatient department of all age groups during January 2015–December 2019 were analyzed. The rapid diagnostic test and peripheral smear by Giemsa stain was carried out for diagnosis of malaria. Widal test was used for screening for typhoid which was further confirmed by blood culture and clinical diagnosis. Of the 1,378 febrile patients, 271 and 95 cases were diagnosed with typhoid fever and malaria, respectively. Coinfection was found in 18 (4.7%) cases. Of the total 1,378 febrile patients initially screened for both these conditions, males and females were 50.7% and 49.3%, respectively. Of the 95 patients of malaria, male preponderance was present (72.6% vs 27.4%), while typhoid had female dominance (male: 45.4%; female: 54.6%). The prevalence of malaria, typhoid, and coinfection was highest in the age group of 16–30 years, which was around 43%–45%. The study revealed that the typhoid prevalence rate was higher than malaria in patients in whom initial diagnosis was made of either malaria or typhoid. Fever cases, in which either malaria or typhoid was suspected on basis of clinical symptoms (27.86%, 384 out of 1,378 samples), were having positive results of either malaria, typhoid, or both.