The Widal test, developed in 1896, detects antibodies against Salmonella Typhi, the cause of typhoid fever.
A type of blood test which helps in detecting typhoid or enteric fever in the body. The history of this is older than 2 centuries. In 1896, Georges Ferdinand Widal performed this test first and later it was named- Widal test.
What is Widal Test?
The Widal test is a greater 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 is a life-threatening, interpreting of widal test is important for correct result and causes.
What is typhoid fever?
Symptoms like - Fatigue, weakness, platelets down, high fever, headache, diarrhoea, constipation, weight loss, and stomach or abdominal pain etc are part of typhoid fever. It is also known as enteric fever, a severe cause of salmonella bacteria. It directly affects your digestive system when you consume food or water contaminated with a faecal material.
It is crucial to detect and treat typhoid fever and prevent severe conditions like- intestinal bleeding or perforation.
Early signs and symptoms of typhoid fever
After 1 and 2 weeks it appears as-
Once the condition starts become serious, you might feel-
- Rashes on the stomach.
- Agitation
- Confusion
- Delirium including hallucinations
- Difficulty concentrating and attention deficit.
- Nosebleeds and blood in stools.
- A slow, sluggish, weak feeling with severe fatigue.
What is the right time to get a widal test?
Knowing the exact time of getting widal test, when its important to detect symptoms is important-
- Persistent symptoms- Symptoms of typhoid like prolonged fever, abdominal pain, fatigue, or other symptoms associated with typhoid fever that do not improve over time, it is essential to seek medical advice.
- Recurring symptoms: If you previously had typhoid and now once again particularly with new symptoms like nosebleeds, confusion, or blood in stools.
- If you’ve recently visited typhoid suffering countries and are feeling illness, fever or any particular symptoms, you should get a typhoid test.
What is the role of widal in modern medicine?
With the rise of modern techniques, It is very important to understand that when the Widal test is used, that the results are interpreted with care, keeping the limitations in mind. Clinicians should use the Widal test as a part of a suite of diagnostic tools, and not rely on it as a single diagnostic method.
Here are some modern diagnostic approaches-
- Blood culture (Book Now)- This is one of the best techniques used to diagnosing typhoid fever, in this method the Salmonella Typhi used to culture from the patient's body.
- Bone Marrow culture (Book Now)- It is more invasive and more sensitive than blood culture test.
- PCR (Book Now)- It detects Salmonella Typhi DNA, offering rapid and sensitive diagnosis.
- Tubex TF (Book Now)- Test that detects antibodies.
Conclusion
The widal test is historically important from 1896, as it helps to detect the life threatening fever called typhoid which is caused by the bacteria salmonella. With the modern techniques there are several new easy ways to detect the typhoid early symptoms such as- Blood culture, pcr, bone marrow culture and others. It is important to know what is the right time to get widal test to diagnose severe health conditions. If you’re experiencing symptoms like- headache, excessive fever and fatigue, you should book an appointment at Ganesh diagnostic and imaging centre, the best scanning centre in Delhi.
FAQS-
Q. Why is a widal test used?
This test is used to detect antibodies against Salmonella Typhi bacteria which can cause fever or typhoid.
Q. What does a positive test show?
A positive Widal test suggests the presence of Salmonella Typhi or Paratyphi, it is indicating typhoid fever.
Q. What does a negative test show?
A negative result shows that the salmonella Typhi is not present, which means there are no symptoms of typhoid fever.
