Salmonellosis

Salmonellosis is a very common cause of gastroenteritis in the developed world and invasive disease in the developing world.

Salmonella enterica causes both sporadic infections and outbreaks of disease.

Almost any food product can be contaminated, but outbreaks are most commonly due to poultry, dairy items such as raw milk, and undercooked eggs. Outbreaks associated with ingestion of peanut products and raw produce such as sprouts have been described. Reptile exposure also has been associated with the development of the disease.

The clinical presentation is most commonly a self-limited gastroenteritis.

Diagnosis relies on isolation of the organism from stool cultures or by detection of pathogen-specific nucleic acid.

Treatment includes fluid and electrolyte replacement; antibiotics are typically reserved for patients with severe or prolonged symptoms or risk factors for developing more severe disease, or extraintestinal complications.

Nontyphoidal salmonellosis most commonly manifests as a self-limited gastroenteritis. It is caused by Salmonella, a genus within the family Enterobacteriaceae.

Salmonellae are gram-negative, nonspore-forming, facultatively anaerobic bacilli. The nontyphoidal Salmonella species includes all species and serotypes of Salmonella enterica with the exceptions of S Typhi and S Paratyphi, the causes of enteric fever. This topic discusses diagnosis and treatment of gastroenteritis caused by nontyphoidal Salmonella.