Salmonella bacteraemia in Turkish children: 37 cases seen in a university hospital between 1993 and 2002.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical pattern of Salmonella bacteraemia in Turkish children. From 1993 to 2002, all children with a blood culture positive for Salmonella were retrospectively evaluated in the Division of Paediatric Infectious Diseases in Ankara University School of Medicine. All Salmonella isolates were serotyped and investigated for antimicrobial susceptibility. During the 10-year study period, 40 patients with Salmonella bacteraemia were identified. Of 37 eligible children, eight had enteric fever and 29 had non-typhoidal salmonellosis. Salmonella typhimurium was the most common serotype in the group with non-typhoidal salmonellosis. No significant differences were found between the enteric fever and non-typhoidal salmonellosis groups with regard to clinical features, laboratory findings and outcome, except in mean platelet counts and mean serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. In vitro resistance rates of Salmonella strains were low. Outcome was excellent in all but one child with hydrocephalus and gross neurological sequelae owing to meningitis. Salmonella bacteraemia is relatively uncommon in Turkish children. Differentiating between enteric fever and non-typhoidal Salmonella bacteraemia on clinical grounds is difficult.