Background: There is very little published data on the antibody response to the Vi capsular polysaccharide (Vi-CPS) of S. Typhi during naturally acquired typhoid fever in an endemic area.
Methodology: An indirect ELISA, using tyraminated, purified Vi-CPS, was used to assay anti-Vi-CPS antibodies from typhoid fever cases and controls living in the Ho Chi Minh City and Mekong Delta region of Viet Nam.
Results: Antibody response to Vi-CPS is significantly higher in typhoid patients who have been ill for more than two weeks than those who are in the first two weeks of illness. The anti-Vi-CPS response is similar for adults and children. Anti-Vi-CPS antibodies can be detected in the sera of non-typhoid patients. The frequency with which this occurs increases with age, probably reflecting increased exposure to S. Typhi.
Conclusions: Anti-Vi_CPS is elicited in persons infected with S. Typhi but only after a prolonged duration of illness. Vaccine trials have shown anti-Vi-CPS antibodies to be protective; thus early treatment of typhoid patients, i.e. in the first two week of illness before the Vi-CPS response is elicited, may inhibit the development of this protective immune response.