Benign bacteremia caused by Salmonella typhi and paratyphi in children younger than 2 years

Abstract

Blood cultures were systematically performed in children under 2 years of age with fever who were seen at 2 health centers in Santiago Chile during the peak months for typhoid fever to determine whether the very low reported incidence of typhoid fever in this age group reflects lack of consumption of the vehicles that transmit Salmonella typhi or whether infant hosts manifest an atypical response that goes unrecognized. S. typhi was isolated from 4 (2%) of the 197 blood cultures S. paratyphi B from 2 (1%) cultures and S. paratyphi A from 1 (0.5%) culture. The clinical syndrome in these infants was mild consisting of fever for 1-5 days and coughing. All infections resolved without complications even though the mothers spontaneously discontinued chloramphenicol therapy when the symptoms disappeared. The results of this study the 1st ot systematically examine the incidence of typhoid fever in children under 2 years indicate that infants become infected at a higher rate (3.6%) than is commonly assumed and manifest a very mild clinical illness.