Incidence of Typhoid Fever and its Risk Factors among Febrile Patients Attending Ahmad Sani Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria

Typhoid fever is an acute and sometimes life-threatening systemic febrile illness caused by Salmonella enterica serovar typhi (S. typhi) and Salmonella enterica serovar paratyphi (S. paratyphi) A, B and C. This cross sectional study was carried out to determine the incidence of typhoid fever among febrile patients attending Ahmad Sani Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital Gusau, Zamfara State. A total of 198 blood samples were collected and processed using Widal test kit. Information such as age, educational level, toilet facilities, and symptoms of the disease were also obtained through structured questionnaire. The study participants were 116(59.5%) females, while 82(31.7%) were males. The overall prevalence of typhoid fever among the study subject was 47.9%. Higher incidence of the disease was recorded among male subjects with 34.8% prevalence while female recorded only 13.1%. There was high incidence (17.7%) of typhoid fever among 18-25 age groups while least by those above 66 years with 2%. There was high incidence among participant using well as water source with prevalence of 13.1%. it is concluded that there are clear and significant occurrence of typhoid fever among the study population. Therefore, enlightenment programs on environmental and personal hygiene should be encouraged among individuals in the study area. Keywords: Typhoid Fever, Widal, Salmonella Typhi and Salmonella paratyphi