Definition, Causes and Symptoms of Non-typhoidal Salmonella Infections

Non-typhoidal Salmonella Infections

DEFINITION

Non-typhoidal salmonella infections are infections caused by salmonella bacteria that do not cause typhoid fever.


CAUSES

Salmonella bacterium. There are 2200 species of Salmonella, including the type that causes typhoid fever. Every type can cause disturbances in digestion, enteric fever, and specific localized infections.

Salmonella is found in infected meat, poultry, raw milk, eggs and processed eggs. Salmonella can also be found in reptiles that are kept, deep red dye.


SYMPTOMS

Salmonella infections can cause gastrointestinal or enteric fever; sometimes the infection is only about a specific part. Some people who are infected may have no symptoms, but they act as carriers of these bacteria.

Gastrointestinal disorders usually begin to occur within 12-48 hours after infection with Salmonella bacteria. Initial symptoms are nausea and cramping abdominal pain soon followed by diarrhea, fever, and sometimes vomiting. Usually diarrhea is very watery, but sometimes can be a semi-solid stool. This disorder is usually mild and lasts 1-4 days, but can last much longer. Diagnosis is reinforced by breeding bacteria in stool samples or rectal swabs of patients.

Enteric fever occurs when Salmonella into the blood. Fever causes tremendous fatigue. Bacteria can live and multiply in the digestive tract, blood vessels, heart valves, membranes of the brain and spinal cord, lungs, joints, bones, urinary tract, muscle or other organs. Sometimes the bacteria infect the tumor, thus forming an abscess which in turn can cause blood infections.

A carrier does not show symptoms but will continue to release the bacteria in the stool. Less than 1% of patients who went on to become carriers of the bacteria for a year or more.