TY - JOUR
T1 - Risk factors for typhoid fever in children in squatter settlements of Karachi
T2 - A nested case-control study
AU - Siddiqui, Fahad Javaid
AU - Haider, Syed Rizwan
AU - Bhutta, Zulfiqar Ahmed
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding : Unrestricted grant from Department of Paediatrics, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - Typhoid fever remains a major public health problem in developing countries such as Pakistan. A great majority of cases occur in children living in poor sanitary conditions in squatter settlements in large cities. We conducted a case-control study to identify risk factor for typhoid fever in children under the age of 16 years residing in squatter settlements of Karachi. We enrolled 88 typhoid fever patients, diagnosed by positive blood culture or Typhidot® test, between June 1999 and December 2001. Simultaneously, we enrolled 165 age-matched neighborhood controls. Multivariate analysis done through conditional binary logistic regression analysis technique showed that increasing number of persons in the household (odds ratio [OR] = 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-3.1), non-availability of soap near hand washing facility (OR = 2.6; 95% CI 1.1-6.3), non-use of medicated soap (OR = 11.2; 95% CI 1.3-97.6) and lack of awareness about contact with a known case of typhoid fever (OR = 3.7; 95% CI 1.6-8.4) were independent risk factors of the disease. Health education with emphasis on hand washing may help decrease the burden of typhoid fever in developing countries.
AB - Typhoid fever remains a major public health problem in developing countries such as Pakistan. A great majority of cases occur in children living in poor sanitary conditions in squatter settlements in large cities. We conducted a case-control study to identify risk factor for typhoid fever in children under the age of 16 years residing in squatter settlements of Karachi. We enrolled 88 typhoid fever patients, diagnosed by positive blood culture or Typhidot® test, between June 1999 and December 2001. Simultaneously, we enrolled 165 age-matched neighborhood controls. Multivariate analysis done through conditional binary logistic regression analysis technique showed that increasing number of persons in the household (odds ratio [OR] = 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-3.1), non-availability of soap near hand washing facility (OR = 2.6; 95% CI 1.1-6.3), non-use of medicated soap (OR = 11.2; 95% CI 1.3-97.6) and lack of awareness about contact with a known case of typhoid fever (OR = 3.7; 95% CI 1.6-8.4) were independent risk factors of the disease. Health education with emphasis on hand washing may help decrease the burden of typhoid fever in developing countries.
KW - Case-control
KW - Children
KW - Pakistan
KW - Risk factors
KW - Typhoid
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jiph.2008.10.003
DO - 10.1016/j.jiph.2008.10.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 20701852
AN - SCOPUS:63549133000
SN - 1876-0341
VL - 1
SP - 113
EP - 120
JO - Journal of Infection and Public Health
JF - Journal of Infection and Public Health
IS - 2
ER -