Blood Leucocyte Count Patterns in Relation to Salmonella Agglutinins among Patients with Salmonellosis in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

One hundred blood samples of clinically diagnosed tyhoid fever patients attending University College Teaching Hospital Ibadan were subjected to Widal agglutination test and blood leucocytes count. Mean WBC values of 5354 and 6059 per ml were obtained at a tire of 1/160 for ‘O\' and ‘H\' agglutinins, while 6157 and 5286 per ml for ‘O\' and ‘H\' agglutinins at a tire of 1/320 were recorded respectively. Similar patterns of normal response were also obtained in the differential leucocytes count. The mean values of total leucocytes, neutrophils and lymphocytes of the patients analyzed at cut-off tire of 1/160 and above were found to fall within acceptable ranges for normal healthy individuals. Most patients also had normal leucocytes count values as determined by previous parameters used for healthy persons. The results of this study revealed that the established notion of leucopenia, neutropenia and lymphocytosis common in cases of salmonellosis among people of the Western world and Asians does not hold for Nigerians. It is suffice to infer that peripheral blood leucocytes count as an index of cellular immune response to Salmonella infections is not adequate, as currently used in some Laboratories and clinical centres in the diagnosis of patients with salmonellosis.

KEY WORDS: Salmonella typhi, salmonellosis, widal test, leucocyte count, leucopenia, neutropenia, diagnosis.

Nigerian Journal of Health and Biomedical Sciences Vol.4(1) 2005: 8-13