ABSTRACT

Typhoid fever also known as enteric fever, it is a potentially fatal multisystem illness caused

primarily by SalmonellaTyphi(S. Typhi). It is an important cause of morbidity and mortality

globally. Itremains a major public health problem in developing countries such as Nigeria,

where access toclean water and standards of sanitation and hygiene are inadequate. This

study analyzedreported typhoid fever cases among students of Ahmadu Bello University,

Samaru campus Zaria. The objectives of the study are to identify the sources of water supply,

examine the demographic determinants of typhoid fever, examine the temporal trend of

reported typhoid fever cases from 2009-2014, examine the spatial distribution of reported

typhoid fever cases and examine the strategies adopted to control and prevent typhoid fever

in the study area.Questionnaire and structured interview were the primary instrument for data

collection while recorded typhoid cases from the university sick-bay was the secondary data

used for the study. Accidental sampling technique was usedto select 396 respondents for the

administration of questionnaire from a population of 45,000 students. Data was analyzed both

descriptively and inferentially using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version

20). The study found that sachet water (46.5%) was the major source of drinking water and

about half (50%) of the respondents attested that it is consumed more because they feel it is

safe for consumption. Respondent’s perceived typhoid fever to affect students’

academicperformance through absenteeism from lectures. It also revealed that typhoid fever

in the study area mostly affects age groups of 21-25years and the female sex (63.9%)

although no significant difference was shown in typhoid cases between the age groups and

sexes of the patients. The study established that April with 1287 recorded the highest cases of

typhoid fever while December recorded the lowest over the six years period.Ribadu hostel

recorded the highest number of typhoid cases in the study area. The occurrence of typhoid

across the years reveals year 2012 with 2158 number of cases had the highest. Finally the

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INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

A disease is a particular abnormal, pathological condition that affects part or all of an organism (Olson, 2002). It is often construed as a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by factors originally from an external source, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune diseases (McWhinney, 1987). In humans, "disease" is often used more broadly to refer to any condition that causes pain, dysfunction, distress, social problems, or death to the person afflicted, or similar problems for those in contact with the person. In this broader sense, it sometimes includes injuries, disabilities, disorders, syndromes, infections, isolated symptoms, deviant behaviours, and typical variations of structure and function, while in other contexts and for other purposes these may be considered distinguishable categories (Emson, 1987). Diseases usually affect people not only physically, but also emotionally, as contracting and living with a disease can alter one's perspective on life, and one's personality (Hanne and Hawken, 2007).

Typhoid fever also known as enteric fever, it is a potentially fatal multisystem illness caused primarily by SalmonellaTyphi(S. Typhi), which is an important cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Itremains a major public health problem in developing countries, where access toclean water and standards of sanitation and hygiene are inadequate.S typhi has been a major human pathogen for thousands of years, thriving in conditions of poor sanitation, crowding, and social chaos. The name S typhi is derived from the ancient Greek typhos, an ethereal smoke or cloud that was believed to cause disease and madness. In the advanced stages of typhoid fever, the patient's level of consciousness could be truly clouded. Although antibiotics have remarkably reduced the frequency of typhoid fever in the developed world, yet it remains endemic in developing countries(Fenwick, 2006).

Typhoid fever is widely recognized as a major public health problem in developing countries. It is characterized by acute fever, headache, abdominal pain, impatience and leukopenia. The etiological agent of typhoid fever is Salmonella entericasub-spentericaserotype Typhi (Abu Oshomole and Adeyemi, 2011).Humans are the only natural host and reservoir for S. Typhi, which can survive several months in soil or water (Ibekweet al., 2008).

The infection is transmitted by ingestion of food or water contaminated by faecal or urinary carriers excreting the bacterium. Transmission dynamics of typhoid fever is beyond an association between declining incidence with improvements in sanitation and risk factors.This is identified through classical epidemiological techniques, particularly case-control studies. Individual level risk factors are, among others, contaminated water and food, community-level risk factors include population density, temperature, rainfall and proximity to water sources (Ismail, 2006).

Typhoid fever is a major cause of morbidity in many regions of the world.About 12 to 33 million cases were reported in India, South and Central America and Africa which is characterized by rapid population growth