NONTYPHOID SALMONELLA GASTROENTERITIS

Objective: To study the clinical features of non-typhoid Salmonella ga stroenteritis and the incidence, risk factors and outcome of invasive complications in urban Malaysian children. To describe the serotypes o f Salmonella species isolated and the pattern of antibiotic susceptibi lity. Methodology: Retrospective review of a group of 131 children wit h non-typhoid Salmonella gastroenteritis seen at the University Hospit al, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from January 1994 to December 1996. Results : Sixty-seven percent were infants below one year of age. Fever and vo miting were seen in nearly half of children. Seven children (5.3%) had invasive complications: 5 bacteraemia and 2 meningitis. Age below 6 m onths, fever >38.0 degrees C, and dehydration on admission were signif icantly associated with invasive complications, The commonest serotype s isolated were S, enteritidis, S. paratyphi B, and S, bovis-morbifica ns. A total of 94-100% of isolates were susceptible to commonly prescr ibed antibiotics. Conclusions: Children with Salmonella gastroenteriti s below 6 months of age who are febrile and dehydrated should be treat ed empirically with antibiotics until the result of blood culture is a vailable.