Incidence of Co-infection of Malaria and Typhoid and their Diagnostic Dilemmas

Background: This study was carried out to know the incidence of co-existence of typhoid and malaria in western part of Uttar Pradesh. Both these infections are common febrile illnesses prevalent in tropical countries including India. Materials and Methods: A total of 300 blood samples were collected from the patients presenting with fever for more than one week. Diagnosis of typhoid was carried out using Widal test and blood culture and for diagnosis of malaria blood film examination was done. Results: Out of total 300 patients, 31 (10.3%) were positive for malarial parasite and 82 (27.3%) were positive for typhoid by Widal test while 12 (4%) were positive for typhoid by blood culture. Rate of co-infection was found out to be 21 (6.7%) with Widal test and 3 (1%) with blood culture. Conclusion: As there is paucity of data on co-infection of malaria and typhoid from this part of country, this study was carried out to know their prevalence. As both these illnesses present with same clinical features, the clinicians must look for co-existence of these infections. Hence, to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment more such studies must be carried out from different parts of the country.