Typhoid Fever among Children, Ghana

Authors

Florian Marks, Yaw Adu-Sarkodie, Frank Hünger, Nimako Sarpong, Samuel Ekuban, Alex Agyekum, Bernard Nkrumah, Norbert G. Schwarz, Michael O. Favorov, Christian G. Meyer, and Jürgen May

Abstract

We conducted our study at the rural Agogo Presbyterian Hospital in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The percentage of residents of 99 villages and household clusters of buildings (population size 18–13,559 persons, median 277 persons) with access to the study hospital was assessed in a healthcare utilization survey. A proportional-to-size number of children were randomly selected in each village, and a standardized interview was conducted. TF incidences were calculated for September 2007–November 2008. A bacteriology laboratory with BACTEC 9050 automated blood culture system (Becton Dickinson, Sparks, MD, USA) was established in the study hospital and run to assess the number of admissions with TF, the incidence of TF in the adjoining community and S. enterica ser. Typhi resistance to a panel of antimicrobial drugs.

 

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