Surveillance Data Analysis of Typhoid Fever in Jimma Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia (2015 - 2019)

Abstract IntroductionTyphoid fever is a major cause of morbidity and mortality around the globe and it is a serious illness in developing countries. Typhoid fever is prevalent in Ethiopia and the burden differs with diverse demography, environment, and climate. Efficient evidence concerning the trend of typhoid fever is important for targeted intervention in the catchment area. So, ongoing analysis of surveillance data is vital but there is no data regarding typhoid fever trend and distribution in the study area. The study aimed to determine the proportion of typhoid fever cases by person, district, and time ,and to assess the mortality rate of typhoid fever. MethodDescriptive cross-sectional study design was conducted among monthly reported typhoid fever surveillance data of 5 years (2015-2019) in Jimma Zone. The data were retrieved, analyzed, and interpreted from May 20/2019 to June 7/ 2019. The study population is estimated to be 3425206. SPSS version 21 was used to enter and analyze the data. ResultA total of 36641 typhoid fever cases were reported. The total prevalence rate during the five years was 24 cases per10,000 residents. The disease mostly occurred in March with these 7200(20%) reported during the period. The majority of the investigated cases were identified in Qarsa woreda 4476(12.2%), Followed by Gomma 4075(11.1%) and Mana 3267 (8.9%) wereda. 159 (0.4%) of the reported cases were admitted and the majority 60 (37.7%) were from Gumay wereda but there was no death from all wereda in the five years. Conclusion and RecommendationTyphoid fever was a major public health problem in the Jimma zone for the last 5 years. The highest incidence of typhoid fever cases was reported at the end of the dry season particularly in March and the distribution of cases was positively skewed to Qarsa, Gomma, and Mana wereda among the surveillance areas. Zonal health departments should strengthen the interventions focused on the wereda that had a high burden of typhoid fever at the end of the dry season.