Pattern of widal agglutination reaction in apparently healthy population of Jimma town, southwest Ethiopia.

Background: Typhoid fever is leading cause of morbidity in developing countries including Ethiopia. Isolation of Salmonella Typhi by culturing, from blood or other source, is the surest way of making laboratory diagnosis. However, in resource-limited countries, the Widal agglutination test provides cheaper and easy alternatives, though inappropriate technique and interpretation continue to cast a shadow on its usefulness.