Abstract

The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of enteric fever amongst individuals in Owerri municipal area of Imo state. The study shows that 61 (24.4%) patients had typhoid fever based on clinical examination and serological test results (Widal test). It was observed that prevalence of enteric fever was high among the patients of age group 26 to 35 years (44.3%). Similarly, prevalence of typhoid fever was higher in females with 38 (62.7%) than males 23 (37.7%). It was concluded that prevalence of typhoid fever was high among the youths who consume unsafe drinking water and food from outside source. However, the survey revealed that not all medical cases of typhoid fever reported were correct because most private medical clinics do not carry out tube agglutination test on their patients due to lack of medical facilities and poverty level in the country.

Key words: Antibody titre, typhoid, enteric fever, drinking water.