Salmonellosis at the University Hospital of the West Indies

ABSTRACT

During 1982-83, there were 367 cases of salmonellosis at the University Hospital of the West Indies, caused by 50 different serotypes. Multiresistant strains of Salmonella ohio accounted for 19.3 percent of isolates, compared with 12 percent, 9.8 percent and 9.5 percent for Salmonella derby, Salmonella typhimurium and Salmonella typhi, respectively, Salmonella wre recovered from stool (303), blood (48), skin and soft tissue (7), urine (6), post-mortem material (2), sequestra (1), and sputum (1). Most infections occurred in younger age groups with 63 percent in children < 1 year if age. Twenty patients developed locallising infections. The 48 blood culture isolates included 25 S. tryphi and 23 other salmonella species. Fifteen patients with non-typhoid bloodstream infections developed septicaemia, and 13 of these had underlying disease, whereas only 1 of 8 bacteraemic patients had underlying disease. All S. ohio isolates were resistant to chloramphenicol, ampicillin, cotrimoxazole, neomycin and carbenicillin, and resistance determinants were transferred to E. coli K12J53-2. It was concluded that non-typhoid salmonellas were responsible for a significant degree of morbidity during the period of this study (AU)