Everyday illness · 4 min read · Updated October 2026
Typhoid: why the test matters and how to avoid it
Typhoid is over-diagnosed from one unreliable blood test and under-prevented. Here is what is actually known.
Clinician review pending This article is awaiting sign-off by a doctor.
Typhoid is a bacterial infection spread through food or water contaminated by an infected person's stool. It causes a fever that rises over several days, headache, tiredness, stomach pain, and either constipation or diarrhoea. Unlike malaria, chills are less prominent and the fever tends to build steadily.
About the Widal test
The Widal test, widely sold across Africa, is unreliable. It is often positive in healthy people and in those who had typhoid years ago, and many people are treated for 'typhoid and malaria' on the strength of one Widal result. The accurate test is a blood culture, which takes a few days. A doctor will weigh your symptoms, a malaria test and, where possible, a culture before prescribing.
Treatment
Typhoid needs antibiotics, but resistance to common antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin is now widespread in Africa, so the choice depends on local patterns. Take the full course. Rest, drink plenty of fluids, and eat small frequent meals.
Danger signs
Severe stomach pain, black or bloody stools, confusion, or a fever beyond a week despite treatment need hospital assessment; typhoid can perforate the bowel.
Prevention
Drink treated or boiled water, wash hands with soap before eating and after the toilet, eat food hot and freshly cooked, peel fruit yourself, and be cautious with ice and street salads. Typhoid conjugate vaccines are effective and are being added to some national programmes; ask your clinic.
How Telafia can help
If you have been told you have typhoid on a Widal test alone, a doctor can review whether the diagnosis is likely and whether you need different tests or treatment.
Emergency numbers
767 works in Lagos State; 112 is the national number. Numbers change: please check locally. If a number does not connect, go straight to the nearest hospital.
Related doctors
Questions about this? A general practice doctor can help today.
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