Background: Salmonella antibodies are known to cross-react with other antigens including those from Escherichia coli. Malaria antigens may also have similar characteristics.

Objectives: To establish antibody levels in malaria patients and controls and to decipher (if any), relationship(s) between significant agglutinin responses to the various antigens as outcome factor and malaria parasitaemia as exposure factor.

Study Setting: University of Benin Teaching Hospital and Egor Local Government Area of Edo state, Nigeria,. between July and August, 1999.

Study Design: Prospective and a case control study.

Patients and Methods: Agglutinins against H and O antigens of Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi A, B and C were determined using the Widal test in 189 school aged children(5-16 years) with malaria (males, 54.0%; females, 46.0%) and 175 apparently healthy children,(52.0% males, and 48.0%) of comparable age and gender distributions. Agglutination reaction at >1.80 were significantly more in malaria patients (52/189 or 27.5%) than in controls (28/175 or 16.0%) (x² = 7.07; p