Malaria and salmonella typhi co- infection and antibiotic susceptibility in febrile patients at the Buea Regional Hospital.

BACKGROUND

Typhoid fever and malaria co-infection is a serious public health problem in febrile patients. Due to their common clinical symptoms, the risk of misdiagnosis can occur leading to prolong hospital stay and proper treatment with specific antibiotics. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of malaria and typhoid fever coinfection among febrile patients at Buea Regional Hospital (BRH).

METHODS

A cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted on 152 febrile patients at BRH from March to May 2024. Blood samples and stool were collected for malaria and typhoid fever detection respectively. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done on the positive Salmonella typhi isolates. Data were keyed on excel and analyzed using SPSS.

RESULTS

The prevalence of malaria and typhoid were 52.0 % (79/152) and 37.5 % (57/152) respectively. 73.7 % (112/152) had either malaria or typhoid. 22.3 % (25/112) of confirmed patients had both malaria and S. typhi infection. Vomiting was statistically associated to typhoid (P = 0.008). Majority of the antibiotics were susceptible to Salmonella isolates, and all our isolates were resistant to Sulfometaxazole.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of malaria and typhoid were high among symptomatic patients attending BRH. Participants with clinical manifestations were positively associated to typhoid. S. thyphi was resistant to Sulfometaxazole, one of the drug of choice to treat typhoid fever. The high prevalence of typhoid in faeces highlight the risk of spread of resistant S. typhi strain. Malaria and typhoid should be diagnosed and treated independently based on laboratory findings and their antibiograms to reduce the risk AMR and the proper treatment of these diseases.