PREVALENCE OF TYPHOID FEVER AND ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS AMONG PATIENTS ATTENDING ZEMERO HEALTH CENTER, MENZ KEYA GEBREAL WOREDA, NORTH SHEWA, AMHARA REGION, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Typhoid fever is a systemic prolonged febrile infection caused by Salmonella serotypes transmitted in contaminated food or water. Typhoid fever has been associated with a high morbidity and mortality rate in many developing countries including Ethiopia. The major objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of typhoid fever and associative risk in patients attending healthcare at Menz- Keya Gebreal Zemero health center, North Shewa Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence typhoid fever in the study area. All typhoid fever patients in Zemero health center were are included in the study. Widal test was used to determine for the prevalence of typhoid fever in the study area. Structured interview was done to collect data on factors associated to transmission of typhoid fever. In this study 71.9% of respondents had not knowledge of yphoid fever. It was revealed that 59.80 % males and 40.19% females were claimed to have suffered from typhoid fever. Among these, typhoid fever was higher in IIiterate, primary school and secondary school attained respondents than respondents with diploma and above. The study found out of the 61.53% of respondents who used open defecation, 78.6% were suffered with typhoid fever. In the case of water supply and prevalence of typhoid fever, largest percent (82.95%) who drunk from stream water were suffered with typhoid fever. Additionally, the study found out that 67.69% patients had typhoid fever based on Widal test examination results. This indicated that the risk factors were still continued and that there were no effective control measures in place. Therefore, an understanding of the factors that influence the occurrence of typhoid fever in Zemero around District was important in the management of the typhoid fever and environmental sanitation by community could minimize the risk factors.