Malaria and typhoid fever are debilitating diseases responsible for the deaths of thousands of lives annually. Over the last decade both diseases have received increasing attention with particular focus on malaria. However, recent reports indicate an increasing co-infection rate between mala- ria and typhoid fever. Familiar signs and symptoms of both diseases have led to the belief in some communities that it’s a new disease. In this study, we investigated the relationship between mala- ria and typhi O and H antigens among patients reporting with fever. Patients reporting with fever from April 2013-March 2014 were recruited for the study. Our results showed that there was no association between having malaria and typhoid fever infection. However, having fever was asso- ciated with having both diseases. Also, fever among patients was more likely to be caused by Sal- monella typhi O and H antigens than plasmodium parasites. Infections of both diseases were higher in wet season than in dry season. The study recommends that malaria and typhoid fever intervention programs are increased in endemic areas. Also attention should be paid to typhoid fever infection rates in the country.
Malaria and typhoid fever are endemic diseases with life threatening consequences especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria infection is caused by the plasmodium parasite through the bites of an infected vector, usually an anopheles mosquito. Four species of the plasmodium parasite cause malaria in humans (P. falciparium, P. vi- vax, P. malaria and P. Ovale). However P. falciparium is the most common causative agent and contributes to the highest fatality. Typhoid fever is caused by a gram negative bacterium called Salmonella typhi. Infection usually occurs through ingestion of contaminated food or water. Serology tests usually measure for agglutinations of antibodies against flagella (H) and somatic (O) antigens of the bacterium. Both diseases have similar clinical manifestations such as fever, nausea, appetite loss, headache and constipation. Complications are common for both diseases and usually lead to death.
Malaria and typhoid fever are usually associated with areas or regions with high poverty and under develop- ment [
Geographic distribution of both diseases shows that a co-infection of both diseases is imperative. Also overlap in the social dynamics of communities with high incidence of both diseases gives further credence to the co- infection of both diseases [
In an endemic area such as Sierra Leone, there is an increase in the belief that co-infection is a new disease and should be treated as such. Also, most medical practitioners treat patients presenting with signs and symp- toms of any one of the two diseases with treatments for both diseases. Considering the mutational property of the plasmodium parasite and Salmonella bacteria, drug misuse will lead to resistivity of both pathogens, as has been proven in recent years [
Study data was collected from the Kingharman Road Government Hospital. The hospital is a fully functioning government hospital with more than five hundred visits per day. It is located in the central part of Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is in the western part of Africa with a size of about 71,740 km square (27,699 square miles). In the last census report, Sierra Leone had a population of 6 million (2011 United Nations estimate) and the population of Freetown was approximately 772,873. The ratio of male to female in was 0.97 male(s)/female of the population are under the age of 30. The country has a tropical climate with a wet season from May to October and a dry season from November to April. It has an average temperature of about 27˚C and an annual rainfall average of 3150 mm.
The hospital is one of the main referral hospitals in Sierra Leone and is one of the main surveillance units for diseases in the country, especially malaria and typhoid. On a daily basis, the hospital has about 150 to 200 pa- tients tested for malaria and typhoid combined.
The study was conducted from April 2013 to March 2014. Patients with fever reporting for malaria and typhoid testing were recruited in the study. A total of 11,069 patients with fever were recruited during the study period. Patients were tested for malaria and typhoid (O and H) infections. Study participants included males (47.38%), and females (52.62%). All patients were above the age of five. Under-fives were not included in the study be- cause of inconsistencies in recruiting them for the study and also issues involving safety and consent solicitation.
Trained and licensed laboratory technicians obtained blood samples from all enrolled participants. Blood samples of about 3 mls were collected from the vein of each patient and tested for malaria parasites, Salmonella typhi O and H antibodies. Samples were stored in test tubes and stored at 15˚C - 30˚C prior to laboratory analy- sis.
Conventional light microscopy method was used for confirmation of malaria. This is one the most popular and established method for malaria laboratory confirmation in the tropics and most developing societies. This me- thod involves making a thick and thin dry blood film. The dry blood film was then stained with Giemsa and examined under the microscope, using the oil immersion objective lens. The patient was confirmed of having malaria parasites if stained parasites are seen by the technician. The parasites were counted by a simpler method called the plus system which uses a code of between one and four plus signs, as follows:
+ = 1 - 10 parasites per 100 thick film fields
++ = 11 - 100 parasites per 100 thick film fields
+++ = 1 - 10 parasites per single thick film field
Serological diagnosis was carried out using widal agglutination test to determine the antibody titres of the sera against salmonella H (flagella) and O (somatic) antigens. Widal test is the main method for typhoid fever diag- nosis in many African countries like Sierra Leone. The serological testing was done in accordance with manu- facturers guidelines. The significant in this hospital were figures ≥1:80 for both typhi O and H.
Data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0. Chi square test was used for significance inspection and Pearson’s correla- tion coefficient was for the inspection of associations.
Before data collection, permission was solicited from the hospital ethics committee and confirmed by the ethics committee of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation. Laboratory procedures and personnel were scrutinized and approved by the safety department of the hospital. Informed consent was solicited from patients or their guar- dians (for patients under 18 years).
The study investigated the association between malaria, S. typhi O and S. typhi H infections among patients with fever symptoms that reported for testing at the Kingharman road government hospital from April 2013 to March 2014. During the study period, a total of 11,069 fever patients reported for testing, of these, 5245 (47.38%) were males and 5824 (52.62%) were females. Only 147 (1.3%) fever patients did not test positive for any of the three diseases or infection. A total of 8849 (79.94%) fever patients tested positive for the plasmodium parasite. Among these, positive male cases were 4180 (37.76%) and female positive cases were 4669, χ2 = 0.431, p < 0.05. 5992, 2809 and 48 patients that tested positive for the plasmodium parasite, had parasites loads of +, ++ and +++ respectively. Patients with reactive widal agglutinations titres for S. typhi O and S. typhi H were 9247 (83.54%) and 9603 (86.75%) respectively. Male S. typhi O and S. typhi H cases were 4336 and 4911 respective- ly. Female S. typhi O cases were 4911 and S. typhi H female cases were 5098. 4974 cases had S. typhi O titres ≥1:80 and 4581 cases had S. typhi H titres ≥1:80 (
Most of the cases tested were with the age groups of 5 - 34, consisting of 60.94% for malaria positive cases, 34.55% for typhi O and 31.98% for typhi H cases ≥1:80 (
. Gender and disease distribution among all fever pa- tients from April 2013-March 2014
Gender | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Male | Female | |||
None | 1065 | 1155 | 2220 | |
Malaria | + | 2829 | 3163 | 5992 |
++ | 1329 | 1480 | 2809 | |
+++ | 22 | 26 | 48 | |
Total | 5245 | 5824 | 11,069 | |
χ2 = 0.431 | p > 0.05 | |||
Typhi O | Non-reactive | 909 | 913 | 1822 |
<1:80 | 2115 | 2158 | 4273 | |
≥1:80 | 2221 | 2753 | 4974 | |
Total | 5245 | 5824 | 11,069 | |
χ2 = 27.13 | p < 0.01 | |||
Typhi H | Non-reactive | 740 | 726 | 1466 |
<1:80 | 2433 | 2589 | 5022 | |
≥1:80 | 2072 | 2509 | 4581 | |
Total | 5245 | 5824 | 11,069 | |
χ2 = 16.425 | p < 0.01 |
. Age distribution of fever patients testing for malaria, S. typhi O and S. typhi H
Malaria | Typhi O | Typhi H | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Parasite load | Titre | Titre | |||||||||
Not seen | + | ++ | +++ | Non-reactive | <1:80 | ≥1:80 | Non-reactive | <1:80 | ≥1:80 | ||
Age group | 5 - 9 | 336 | 899 | 404 | 8 | 260 | 661 | 726 | 215 | 736 | 696 |
10 - 14 | 245 | 680 | 344 | 4 | 204 | 452 | 617 | 163 | 573 | 537 | |
15 - 19 | 296 | 792 | 362 | 3 | 246 | 550 | 657 | 199 | 637 | 617 | |
20 - 24 | 304 | 845 | 375 | 7 | 255 | 563 | 713 | 204 | 662 | 665 | |
25 - 29 | 251 | 665 | 328 | 7 | 185 | 520 | 546 | 152 | 590 | 509 | |
30 - 34 | 270 | 699 | 314 | 9 | 222 | 505 | 565 | 189 | 587 | 516 | |
35 - 39 | 96 | 254 | 132 | 1 | 77 | 166 | 240 | 67 | 229 | 187 | |
40 - 44 | 112 | 329 | 151 | 3 | 97 | 235 | 263 | 84 | 291 | 220 | |
45 - 49 | 66 | 184 | 83 | 3 | 66 | 142 | 128 | 40 | 160 | 136 | |
50 - 54 | 94 | 240 | 125 | 1 | 90 | 183 | 187 | 64 | 205 | 191 | |
55 - 59 | 29 | 94 | 40 | 0 | 33 | 65 | 65 | 14 | 80 | 69 | |
60 - 64 | 70 | 169 | 78 | 1 | 43 | 120 | 155 | 41 | 143 | 134 | |
65 - 70 | 18 | 27 | 19 | 0 | 15 | 25 | 24 | 13 | 26 | 25 | |
>70 | 33 | 115 | 54 | 1 | 29 | 86 | 88 | 21 | 103 | 79 |
+ = 1 - 10 parasites per 100 thick film fields; ++ = 11 - 100 parasites per 100 thick film fields; +++ = 1 - 10 parasites per single thick film field; +++ = more than 10 parasites per single thick film field.
parasites load in patients having the plasmodium parasite were lower (in terms of causing malaria symptoms) than typhi O and H cases with titres ≥1:80 (also in terms of causing diseases).
Results from
. Malaria, typhi O and typhi H distribution among all fever patients from April 2013-March 2014
Malaria | Typhi H | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Non-reactive | <1:80 | ≥1:80 | |||
Typhi O | |||||
Not seen | Non-reactive | 147 | 98 | 81 | 326 |
<1:80 | 63 | 422 | 324 | 809 | |
≥1:80 | 64 | 467 | 554 | 1085 | |
Total | 274 | 987 | 959 | 2220 | |
+ | Non-reactive | 403 | 272 | 261 | 936 |
<1:80 | 169 | 1304 | 865 | 2338 | |
≥1:80 | 134 | 1095 | 1489 | 2718 | |
Total | 706 | 2671 | 2615 | 5992 | |
++ | Non-reactive | 301 | 157 | 97 | 555 |
<1:80 | 103 | 705 | 295 | 1103 | |
≥1:80 | 77 | 473 | 601 | 1151 | |
Total | 481 | 1335 | 993 | 2809 | |
+++ | Non-reactive | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
<1:80 | 1 | 20 | 2 | 23 | |
≥1:80 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 20 | |
Total | 5 | 29 | 14 | 48 | |
Total | Non-reactive | 854 | 528 | 440 | 1822 |
<1:80 | 336 | 2451 | 1486 | 4273 | |
≥1:80 | 276 | 2043 | 2655 | 4974 | |
Total | 1466 | 5022 | 4581 | 11069 |
. Pearson’s correlation coefficient for gender, age group, malaria cases and typhi O and H cases
Gender | Age group | Positive malaria cases per parasite load | All positive malaria cases | Typhi O cases per bacteria load | Typhi H cases per bacteria load | All positive typhi O cases | All positive typhi H cases | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gender | r | - | 0.021* | 0.004 | 0.006 | 0.045** | 0.038** | 0.022* | 0.023* |
Age group | r | 0.021* | - | 0.004 | 0.001 | −0.017 | −0.012 | −0.01 | 0.001 |
Positive malaria cases per parasite load | r | 0.004 | 0.004 | - | 0.778** | −0.059** | −0.067** | −0.044** | −0.048** |
All positive malaria cases | r | 0.006 | 0.001 | 0.778** | - | −0.039** | −0.020* | −0.024* | −0.012 |
Typhi O cases per bacteria load | r | 0.045** | −0.017 | −0.059** | −0.039** | - | 0.345** | 0.780** | 0.363** |
Typhi H cases per bacteria load | r | 0.038** | −0.012 | −0.067** | −0.020* | 0.345** | - | 0.330** | 0.730** |
All positive typhi O cases | r | 0.022* | −0.01 | −0.044** | −0.024* | 0.780** | 0.330** | - | 0.437** |
All positive typhi H cases | r | 0.023* | 0.001 | −0.048** | −0.012 | 0.363** | 0.730** | 0.437** | - |
*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Correlation analysis between fever patients and patients with ≥10 plasmodium parasites per single thick film field was r = 0.778, p < 0.01. Also, association between fever patients and S. typhi O and H cases was r = 0.780, p < 0.01 and r = 0.730, p < 0.01 respectively. However, correlation was weak and negative between malaria and S. typhi O, r = −0.059, p < 0.01. Association was also weak between malaria and S. typhi H, r = −0.067, p < 0.01. There was positive association between S. typhi O and S. typhi H cases with titres ≥1:80, r = 0.345, p < 0.01.
Association between gender and all three diseases was weak, but significant (p < 0.05) for S. typhi O and S. typhi H.
Monthly trend for malaria, S. typhi O and S. typhi H followed almost similar trend (
Trend analysis for malaria, during the 12 month period was, χ2 = 16.926, p < 0.01. S. typhi O and S. typhi H chi square trend analysis were χ2 = 16.425, p < 0.01 and χ2 = 0.10604, p > 0.05 respectively. For all three infec- tions, the lowest cases were recorded in March. Malaria, S. typhi O and S. typhi H cases in March were 483, 453 and 458 respectively. The highest cases for all three diseases were recorded in June and July. Malaria cases in June and July were 1054 and 1163 respectively, S. typhi O cases were 1173 and 1126 respectively for June and July and S. typhi H cases for June and July were 1184 and 1204 respectively. Cases increase sharply for all three diseases from May to June, with an increase of almost 30%. Also, there was a decline in the number of cases testing positive for malaria or reactive for S. typhi O and H in the months from July to August and August to September.
This study investigated the association and monthly trend of Malaria, S. typhi O and S. typhi H among fever pa- tients at the Kingharman Government Hospital Freetown in a 12-month period. Gender had no significant rela- tionship with malaria, but was significant for S. typhi O and typhi H. Females were significantly more infected than males for both S. typhi O and S. typhi H. This result is in line with results from the study conducted by Le- vine et al. [
Monthly malaria, typhi O and H trend among fever patients from April 2013-March 2014
diseases. Malaria cases with parasite loads of less than 10 parasites per 100 thick film fields were higher than cases with parasite loads of more than 10 parasites per 100 thick film fields. Major interventions aimed at re- ducing malaria morbidity and fatalities are some of the reasons for low plasmodium parasite loads [
There was a strong association between having fever and having malaria parasites with loads greater than 10 parasites per 100 thick film fields. Similar results were recorded by Anmah et al., (1999) [
Malaria and typhoid fever infections are higher in the raining/wet season than drier seasons. This is mainly due to the mode of transmission and reproductive cycles of the plasmodium parasite and Salmonella bacteria. This study recorded higher malaria and typhoid infections especially in the peak periods of the raining season and lower rates in the peak period of the dry season. Infections for both diseases were high from the months of June-August, coinciding with months of heavy rainfall. Trend analysis from this study showed a reduction in the number of malaria and typhoid cases as rainfall reduces. However, there was an increase in the number of mala- ria and typhoid cases from October to November. Lower temperatures and reduced water levels that favor dis- ease transmission is a possible reason for the increase in rate from October-November.
Almost every patient presenting with fever symptoms had malaria, S. typhi O or S. typhi H infections, but S. typhi O and H infections were higher than malaria infections. There was no association between patients having malaria and typhoid fever. However, there was a strong association between having fever and that of having malaria or S. typhi O and S. typhi H infections. Also fever among patients was more likely to be caused by Sal- monella typhi O and H antigens than plasmodium parasites. Malaria, S. typhi O and H infections are higher in the raining/wet periods of the year than in drier periods. The study recommends that intervention programs aimed at reducing malaria and typhoid infections are increased in endemic areas, especially in the wet seasons. Also particular attention should be paid to typhoid fever infection rates in the country.