Problems in salmonellosis: rationale for clinical trials with newer beta-lactam agents and quinolones

Disease syndromes caused by Salmonella species continue to be important, as evidenced by a major outbreak of infection due to multiresistant Salmonella typhimurium in 1985; this outbreak involved more than 12,000 people in five north-central states of the United States. Salmonella species have become progressively more resistant in recent years to the clinically useful antibiotics (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, ampicillin, and chloramphenicol). The clinical experience accumulated thus far indicates that two new classes of antimicrobial agents, the third-generation cephalosporins and the quinolones, offer significant potential for the treatment of specific problems in salmonellosis: bacteremia and enteric fever, meningitis, osteomyelitis, and the chronic carrier state.