Assessment and comparative analysis of a rapid diagnostic test (Tubex®) for the diagnosis of typhoid fever among hospitalized children in rural Tanzania.

Background: Typhoid fever remains a significant health problem in many developing countries. A rapid test with a performance comparable to that of blood culture would be highly useful. A rapid diagnostic test for typhoid fever, Tubex®, is commercially available that uses particle separation to detect immunoglobulin M directed towards Salmonella Typhi O9 lipopolysaccharide in sera.

Evaluation of the Widal tube agglutination test for the diagnosis of typhoid fever among children admitted to a rural hdospital in Tanzania and a comparison with previous studies.

Background: The diagnosis of typhoid fever is confirmed by culture of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi (S. typhi). However, a more rapid, simpler, and cheaper diagnostic method would be very useful especially in developing countries.

[Evaluation on the safety of a group A + C meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine].

Objective: To evaluate the safety of a group A + C meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine as part of a phase IV clinical trial.

Methods: The study area was divided into 108 clusters according to the principle of cluster randomization, stratified and paired sampling methods. 54 out of 108 clusters served as observation groups were administered A + C vaccine, while the rest 54 groups were administered Vi polysaccharide vaccine.