NON-TYPHOIDAL SALMONELLA: A HOSPITAL BASED STUDY FROM SOUTH INDIA

Abstract

Background & objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of Non-typhoidal Salmonella and to nd their antibiotic susceptibility pattern in a tertiary care hospital in South India. A signicant global health issue is the steadily rising percentage of Non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) infections in people. A descriptive study was conducted at Methods: a tertiary care teaching hospital in South India. Culture and sensitivity of stool samples of clinically suspected patients were done in the Microbiology laboratory from Sree Gokulam Medical College and Research Foundation. All samples were inoculated onto appropriate culture plates. Colonies suspected as Salmonella were identied by standard laboratory methods, initially by manual biochemical tests and by the VITEK-2 automated systems (bioMérieux) and nal serotyping by polyvalent antisera. 3 of the Salmonella isolates were sent to CMC, Vellore, India for serotyping. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed by Kirby Bauer's disc diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton agar and results were interpreted as per the CLSI guidelines (2022). Signed informed consent was obtained from all participants. Tests were performed in the clinical Microbiology Laboratory under the Department of Microbiology, Sree Gokulam Medical College and Research Foundation, Venjaramoodu, Trivandrum. Of the 244 mot Results: ion samples, Non-typhoidal Salmonella isolated were from 20 motion samples. The predominant serotype isolated was Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) in 16(80%) followed by Salmonella enteritidis in 3(15%) and Salmonella C2 in 1(5%) isolates. It was noticed by an increasing trend of resistance to Ampicillin, Chloramphenicol, Cephalosporins (Third generation) and Quinolones over this 18 month study. Based on this study, Conclusions: faecal prevalence of NTS (8.20%) were increasing among motion samples. Majority of isolates were from females (75%) with a mean age group belonging to Adults (46-60yrs). Except for Ampicillin and Cotrimoxazole, NTS isolates exhibited high rates of resistance to rst-line antibiotics. The gradual but consistent increase in resistance to Ampicillin, Fluoroquinolones, third generation Cephalosporins may restrict future treatment 1 options. Hence periodic monitoring of NTS infections, serotype distribution and antimicrobial resistance trend is recommended .