A SALMONELLA-AGONA OUTBREAK IN A PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL IN THE CITY OF RIO-DE-JANEIRO, BRAZIL

Six Salmonella Agona strains from an outbreak of 15 days duration whic h occurred in a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were analyz ed. The outbreak involved six infants (mean age, 24 days; mean body we ight, 1612 g), all of them with severe clinical signs and symptoms. Tw o of them had surgical implications, two were preterm and two had resp iratory distress at birth. The Salmonella strains were resistant to ni ne antimicrobial agents (ampicillin, cephalotin, ceftriaxone, gentamic in, amykacin, trimethoprom-sulfamethoxazole, chloramphenicol, and tetr acyclin). Analysis of the plasmid pattern of the wild strains and of t he transconjugants confirmed that these were identical strains.