Salmonellosis in infants and children. Epidemiologic and therapeutic considerations

Bacteriologic investigation of 121 household contacts of 28 infants and children with salmonella gastroenteritis revealed that 42 (34.7 per cent) had stool cultures positive for salmonella. Of those with positive cultures, 23 had an illness consistent with salmonellosis and 19 were asymptomatic carriers. Long-term bacteriologic follow-up revealed that the duration of salmonella carriage was shortest in those patients who had not initially received antibiotic therapy. Only one convalescent carrier had an illness consistent with recurrent salmonellosis. It is concluded that antibiotic therapy is not indicated in the treatment of uncomplicated salmonella gastroenteritis or of asymptomatic and postsymptomatic carriers.