The PUNCH had in 2017, reported on some medical doctors’ stance that the widal test was not valid for clinical diagnosis and treatment of typhoid.

He said the widal test only checks for the antibody, salmonella typhi that causes typhoid. Typhoid fever is a life-threatening infection caused by the bacterium, Salmonella typhi.

The Widal test rapidly detects and quantifies these antibodies. It’s a point-of-care test and doesn’t need special skills or infrastructure.

Medical doctors have said that Widal test, a popular laboratory investigation prescribed by many hospitals for the diagnosis of typhoid in Nigeria, is no longer valid for the clinical diagnosis ...

Dr Atanda said that widal test is not enough for the clinical diagnoses of typhoid fever, arguing that faecal and blood culture is required to come to a conclusion.

"The Widal Test creates more diagnostic confusion, because of its inability to specifically detect Typhoid alone," said Dr. Nyan, an award-winning infectious disease doctor and inventor in the ...

Original Article from The New England Journal of Medicine — Health Boards and the Widal Test for Typhoid Fever. Skip to main content. The New England Journal of Medicine NEJM; ...