Seroprevalence of Salmonella typhi in a Tertiary Care Facility in North India

Enteric fever which includes typhoid and paratyphoid fever is a systemic febrile illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi and Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi A, B or C, respectively. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi is found to be associated with over 90% cases of enteric fever. (Pandey et al, 2012) Typhoid fever is a noted cause of morbidity worldwide with an estimated 21.7 million cases, the bulk of the burden being borne by India, South and Central America and sub-Saharan Africa, all with growing population and poor sanitary conditions. There is a dearth of available epidemiological data to project the actual situation in India, though a few hospital and large population based studies have demonstrated substantial changes in the incidence of typhoid fever. (Banerjee al, 2014)