Salmonella Typhi and Paratyphi A infections in Cambodian children, 2012-2016

Objectives: Enteric fever remains an important diagnostic and treatment challenge in febrile children living in the tropics. In the context of a national Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi A outbreak, the objective of this retrospective study was to compare features of S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A infections in Cambodian children. Methods: Clinical and laboratory features were reviewed for 192 blood culture-confirmed children with S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A infections presenting to a paediatric referral hospital in Siem Reap, 2012-2016. Results: Children with S. Typhi infections were younger, were more likely to have chills and/or diarrhoea, and were more frequently hospitalized than those with S. Paratyphi A infections. Over three quarters (88.3%) of S. Typhi isolates were multidrug-resistant, compared to none of the S. Paratyphi A. Conclusions: In this small study of Cambodian children, S. Typhi infections were more severe than S. Paratyphi A infections. Antibiotic resistance limits treatment options for enteric fever in this population. (c) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).