Salmonella bacteraemia among young children at a rural hospital in western Zaire.
An analysis of 206 cases of extra-intestinal Salmonella infection among children up to 60 months of age admitted to a rural hospital in western Zaire was undertaken. Most children presented with fever but without any focus of infection which was difficult to distinguish clinically from falciparum malaria. The majority (83%) of the infections were due to serotypes other than S. typhi. Infection with these serotypes was clinically indistinguishable from S. Typhi infection and was associated with a comparably high case fatality rate of 23%. Death was significantly associated with age under 6 months (relative risk 1.7), meningitis (RR 4.7), jaundice (RR 2.5), severe anaemia (RR 1.8), contracting disease in the late wet season when malnutrition peaks (RR 2.6) and infection with a chloramphenicol-resistant isolate (RR 3.2). The increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance and HIV infection will complicate the management of this disease in the future.
Green
S D
SD
Institut Médical Evangélique, Kimpese, Bas-Zaïre.
Cheesbrough
J S
JS
D000367:Age Factors; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005260:Female; D006780:Hospitals, Rural; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007565:Jaundice / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000209:etiology; D012475:Salmonella / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012480:Salmonella Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D012485:Salmonella typhi / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012621:Seasons; D014435:Typhoid Fever / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology