Drug susceptibility profile of Salmonella typhi blood isolates in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

A study of the drug susceptibility pattern of four blood isolates of Salmonella typhi in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, using the disc method, revealed that all strains were generally sensitive to all the Gram-negative drugs tested, except for nitrofurantoin, neomycin and streptomycin. Three strains were moderately sensitive to both streptomycin (10 mcg) and neomycin (30 mcg) and resistant to nitrofurantoin (300 mcg) while one strain was moderately sensitive to streptomycin and resistant to both neomycin and nitrofurantoin. The isolates were highly sensitive to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (25 mcg), ampicillin (10 mcg), ciprofloxacin (30 mcg), ceftazidime (30 mcg) and chloramphenicol (30 mcg). It is suggested that these strains of S. typhi could be used to develop antigens for more accurate results of the Widal test in Nigeria.