BackgroundTyphoid fever is a major health problem in developing countries and its diagnosis on clinical ground is difficult. Diagnosis in developing countries including Ethiopia is mostly done by Widal test. However, the value of the test has been debated. Hence, evaluating the result of this test is necessary for correct interpretation of the result. The main aim of this study was to compare the result of Widal test and blood culture in the diagnosis of typhoid fever in febrile patients.MethodsBlood samples were collected from 270 febrile patients with symptoms clinically similar to typhoid fever and visiting St. Paul’s General Specialized Hospitals from mid December 2010 to March 2011. Blood culture was used to isolate S.typhi and S.paratyphi. Slide agglutination test and tube agglutination tests were used for the determination of antibody titer. An antibody titer of ≥1:80 for anti TO and ≥1:160 for anti TH were taken as a cut of value to indicate recent infection of typhoid fever.ResultsOne hundred and eighty six (68.9%) participants were females and eighty four (31.1%) were males. 7 (2.6%) cases of S. typhi and 4 (1.5%) cases of S. paratyphi were identified with the total prevalence of typhoid fever 4.1%. The total number of patients who have indicative of recent infection by either of O and H antigens Widal test is 88 (32.6%). The sensitivity, specificity, Positive predictive Value and Negative predictive Value of Widal test were 71.4%, 68.44%, 5.7% and 98.9% respectively.ConclusionsWidal test has a low sensitivity, specificity and PPV, but it has good NPV which indicates that negative Widal test result have a good indication for the absence of the disease.

Dermatophytes are worldwide in distribution and dermatophytosis is a common problem in developing countries. It can occur in both sexes and all ages but the diseases are more common in school children. This study attempted to determine the prevalence and etiological agents of dermatophyte infections of hair, skin, and nail among primary school children in Harari Regional State from April to June 2015. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 428 primary school children. Skin scrapings, hair samples, and nail clippings were collected from children who showed dermatophytosis. All specimens were subjected to microscopic examination and culture. Following a meticulous collection, data was analysed using SPSS version 21. Of the 428 school children, 211 (49%) male and 217 (51%) female, 100 (23.4%) had culture confirmed dermatophytosis and tinea capitis took the overall prevalence of 18% (77/428). Trichophyton violaceum was isolated from 43 samples, followed by Trichophyton rubrum in 24. The highest prevalence of dermatophytosis was seen in the age group 5-9 years and grade levels of 1-2 ( < 0.05). As a result, this study found a high prevalence of dermatophytosis in the Harari's Regional State school children and tinea capitis was the predominant clinical finding which needs an intervention.