Prevalence of Typhoid and Paratyphoid Fever in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region, Ghana: A Five-Year Retrospective Trend Analysis

BACKGROUND: Typhoid and paratyphoid fever remain a global public health burden, yet annual estimates of prevalence vary. Estimates have ranged between 9.9 and 24.2 million cases annually. Similar differences in estimates are seen within countries but point to a serious health challenge. In Ghana, for instance, typhoid fever has been ranked among the top twenty causes of outpatient morbidity and constituted 1.2%, 1.7% and 1.3% of hospital admissions in 2017, 2016 and 2015 respectively. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of Salmonella Typhi and Salmonella Paratyphi in the Hohoe Municipality. METHODS: Data on all reported cases of typhoid fever in the Hohoe municipality as entered into the District Health Information Management System 2 (DHIMS 2) database between January 2012 and December 2016 were extracted. A time-trend analysis was conducted to establish the relationship between typhoid fever prevalence and factors such as age, gender, and season. Stata was used to analyse data and to measure rates, associations, and their significance. FINDINGS: The results showed that a total of 6282 individuals suffered from typhoid fever during the five-year period. Of these numbers, 2080 (33.1%) were males, and 4202 (66.9%) were females, representing a P-value 0.0222, and 95% CI. The 25–29 age group were the most affected. High prevalence was observed during the wet months, although cases occurred throughout the year. Trend analysis showed growing cases of typhoid over the period. Prevalence for the various years were found as follows: 2012 – 148 per 100,000, 2013 – 135 per 100,000, 2014 – 396 per 100,000 and in 2015 – 943 per 100,000. CONCLUSIONS: Typhoid fever remains and continues to be a major public health challenge in the municipality. This calls for health authorities and service providers to educate the public about the disease if the challenge is to be addressed.