TITLE:
Dissemination of Salmonella bacilli through Carriers and Domestic Water Sources in Enugu Urban/Peri-Urban of Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Clara I. Eleazar, Iniekong P. Philip, Bryan O. Ogeneh
KEYWORDS:
Salmonella, Carriers, Water
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.5 No.4,
April
24,
2015
ABSTRACT: Salmonella bacilli infection has remained an
important health problem in the developing world. The transmission of S. typhi most often occurs
through food and water, which have been contaminated by faeces from carriers
and infected humans. Prevalence of carriers is a factor in transmission. The
population under study lacked access to clean and safe water. Patients
practiced self medication with inadequate dosing leading to relapsing infections
and chronic carrier state. With this, there is a need to determine the actual
dissemination index of the salmonella organism in the locality. The isolation
from stool, blood and water samples were made using enrichment broths and
selective media. Identification of isolates was carried out using standard
methods. Characterization was done using O and H polyvalent sera. The total
number of infected subjects within the 15 household was 22 (36.7%) among whom
10 (16.7%) were confirmed carriers. The total number/percentage infected by
carrier contact was 9 (39.1%). Consumption of well water gave rise to the
highest (60.0%) attack rate of typhoid fever infection. The continuance
exposure to contaminated water source could be consistent to incessant and
relapsing typhoid fever attacks in exposed individuals. Chronic carriers pose great
risk to other members of the household, therefore regular screening is
required.