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ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Non-Typhoidal Salmonella Infections Among Children in Fuzhou, Fujian, China: A 10-Year Retrospective Review from 2012 to 2021

, , ORCID Icon, , ORCID Icon & ORCID Icon
Pages 2737-2749 | Received 23 Feb 2023, Accepted 22 Apr 2023, Published online: 06 May 2023
 

Abstract

Purpose

Non-typhoidal salmonella (NTS) infection is a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis in children. Recently, NTS infections have increased, especially those associated with Salmonella Typhimurium, which has become a global problem because of its high level of drug resistance. Diseases caused by NTS serotypes vary considerably. We summarised NTS infections among children in Fuzhou, Fujian, China, from 2012 to 2021, and synthesised studies indicating the clinical symptoms, laboratory test results, and drug resistance associated with S. Typhimurium and non-S. Typhimurium to enhance the knowledge of these infections and improve their diagnoses and treatment.

Patients and Methods

Between January 2012 and December 2021, 691 children with NTS infections confirmed by positive culture test results were recruited from Fujian Children’s Hospital and Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital. Clinical demographic data of each case were collected from the electronic medical records and analysed.

Results

A total of 691 isolates were identified. The number of NTS infections increased significantly in 2017 and increased sharply during 2020 and 2021, especially S. Typhimurium greatly increased and was the dominant serotype (58.3%). S. Typhimurium infection was commonly occurred in children younger than 3 years and most of them were gastrointestinal infection, while non-S. Typhimurium more often observed in older children and associated with extra-intestinal infection. The rate of multidrug-resistant S. Typhimurium was significantly higher than that of non-S. Typhimurium, especially during the last 2 years of this study (2020 and 2021).

Conclusion

S. Typhimurium was the dominant serotype and greatly increased among children in Fuzhou city. There are significant differences in clinical symptoms, laboratory test results, and drug resistance between S. Typhimurium and non-S. Typhimurium. More attention should be paid on S. Typhimurium. Long-term high-quality surveillance and control measures should be conducted to prevent salmonella infections and drug resistance.

Abbreviations

MDR, S. Typhimurium, non-S. Typhimurium.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Fujian Maternity and Child Care Hospital (No. 2023KY001). Informed consent was obtained from all the participants prior to enrollment. Our study was carried out followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.cn) for English language editing.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fuzhou Science and Technology Bureau [grant number 2021-S-163].