Epidemiology of salmonellosis and its sensitivity in Karachi

Over the past five years 25,000 blood cultures were screened for septicaemia. Of these 6.7% were positive for salmonella species, the commonest being salmonella typhi accounting for 92% of total salmonella isolates. Over the years, S. typhi showed a gradual decline ranging from 96.7 to 87%. While salmonella paratyphi A has shown a gradual increase ranging from 2.5% to 11.4%. Salmonellosis peaked in the year 1990 suggesting an epidemic. The antibiotic sensitivity pattern showed a gradual increase in resistance over the years and even resistance to the new quinolones has emerged. Thus salmonellosis poses a major threat to the community and we must look into the alternative antibiotics to combat the threat.