Abstract

To study the proportion of non-typhoidal salmonellae & their antimicrobial susceptibility in children presenting with acute gastroenteritis. Materials and methods: It is a cross-sectional observational study with a sample size of 100 over a period of 12 months. Children under 6 years of age suffering with acute gastroenteritis or dysentery admitted to the wards or presenting at the outpatient unit were included in the study. Stool specimens were collected by the microbiology lab attached to a tertiary care hospital. Results: Among the 100 cases, 57 are males and 43 are female children. Identification of NTS was based on colony morphology on selective media and a battery of biochemical tests. One NTS was isolated. Prevalence being 1%. Antibiotic susceptibility profiles were obtained against 12 antibiotics. NTS isolate was sensitive to all the drugs tested. The serotyping result of the NTS isolate is Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis 1,9,12, g,m,- Conclusions: Outbreaks of NTS have been reported in neonatal units, paediatric wards and childcare facilities. However, despite the frequency of asymptomatic NTS excretion following acute infection, the risk of transmission from asymptomatic health care workers to patients appears to be small when strict adherence to hand hygiene is observed

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