Widal Test (Typhoid)

Widal Test (Typhoid)

The Widal test is an advanced way to check for antibodies that your body makes against the salmonella bacteria that causes typhoid fever. It looks for O and H antibodies in a patient’s sample blood (serum).

Typhoid Fever and Widal Test

Typhoid fever, also known as enteric fever, is a severe illness caused by salmonella bacteria. This bacteria affects your digestive system after you consume food or water contaminated with faecal material.

A person with typhoid fever will experience symptoms like fatigue, high fever, headache, diarrhoea or constipation, abdominal pain, weight loss, and red spots. It is crucial to detect and treat typhoid fever as soon as possible to prevent further complications like severe intestinal bleeding or perforation.

There are various tests available to detect typhoid fever, such as stool culture, bone marrow, etc. One such test is the Widal test, which detects the presence of antibodies that your body makes against salmonella bacteria during typhoid.

The bacteria that causes typhoid fever is Salmonella bacteria. It can spread from person to person or from consuming contaminated food. The bacteria are of two types:

1. Salmonella Typhi, also known as S. Typhi,
2. Salmonella Paratyphi, which is also known as S. Paratyphi

Now, the bacteria S. Typhi has two antigens named:

1. S. Typhi O (TO), primary antigen
2. S. Typhi H (TH), secondary antigen

On the other hand, the bacteria S. Paratyphi has the following two antigens:

1. S. Paratyphi A
2. S. Paratyphi B

To understand and interpret the Widal test reports, we will discuss these values later in this blog to understand and interpret the Widal test reports.