[Non typhoidic salmonellosis in the African pediatric population]

The study of non-typhoidic salmonellosis in A. royer pediatric Hospital (Dakar) during a five year term (1985-1989) was realised on thirty five medical records. This pathology accounts for 0.4% of admissions and occurs mainly on children under 3 years old (83%) essentially with a pathologic background. The main clinical forms were septicemia (46%) and gastro-enteritis (31%). Purulent meningitidis represented 45% of all the localized forms. Only one case of asymptomatic carriage has been identified. The seventeen serotypes of Salmonella identified belong to eight serogroups. S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium represented 51% of the isolates. Susceptibility to antibiotics of these different serotypes were variable, the third generation cephalosporins and gentamycin having inhibited more than 80% of the strains. The mean duration of antibiotherapy was 21 days with a mortality rising to 17%. The association ampicilline-gentamycin although criticable, remains indication as first treatment because of the availability of these drugs.