Salmonellosis disease: signs, pathogens and complications of infection, how to treat salmonellosis and prevent infection

If the symptoms of salmonellosis are detected and treatment is not started on time, people whose immunity is weakened by a recent illness may develop blood poisoning.

Causative agents and symptoms of salmonellosis

This polyetiological infectious disease is characterized by a variety of clinical manifestations – from asymptomatic carriage to severe septic forms.

The causative agent of salmonellosis is bacteria of the genus Salmonella. They look like sticks with flagella, are mobile, and when destroyed, they release endotoxin, which causes symptoms of intoxication. They are divided into 2200 serotypes, of which about 700 live in the human body. The characteristics of the course of the disease caused by it depend on the properties of the serotype. Salmonella are very stable in the external environment. They can survive on objects for up to 90 days, in water for up to 60 days, and in dried feces for 3-4 years. In dairy and meat products, they can be stored for up to 4 months, and the appearance and taste of the products do not change. Salting and smoking do not kill them – only boiling for at least 2.5 hours.

The mechanism of transmission of salmonellosis infection is fecal-oral, the route of infection is food. A person can become infected both from a sick person and from animals, in particular from poultry. The percentage of salmonella contamination of duck and goose eggs is especially high, so they are not recommended to be consumed raw. Chicken eggs from the store are pre-disinfected, but it's still better to wash them before breaking them, thoroughly washing off traces of droppings, and then wash your hands.

You can become infected with salmonellosis by eating insufficiently thermally processed meat of fish, crayfish, crabs, as well as frogs and turtles.

This genus of bacteria is named after the American veterinarian D. E. Salmon, who isolated the pathogen in 1885.

Symptoms. The incubation period for salmonellosis is 6 to 24 hours. The disease begins acutely. Nausea, vomiting and symptoms of intoxication appear almost simultaneously. The temperature can rise to 39-40 ° C, headache increases. Vomiting first of food eaten, then of bile. Very rarely, the symptoms of salmonellosis are limited to vomiting only.

Stools are multiple, loose, copious, offensive, frothy, often dark green in color. Patients report rumbling in the abdomen.

Dehydration quickly develops from vomiting and diarrhea. Patients are pale, dry, skin with a bluish tinge, voice is weak, blood pressure is low, there may be dizziness, fainting, cramps of the limbs, sometimes delirium develops, hallucinations. It decreases, and in especially severe cases, the excretion of urine stops. Salmonella sepsis (blood poisoning) may develop with jumps in fever and bouts of chills and sweat, the development of purulent foci in various organs. This form is typical for people with a weakened immune system.

In mild cases, the disease lasts 2-4 days, in severe cases it can be delayed for several weeks.

The most susceptible to salmonellosis are children under 1 year old, and it is in them that the disease is especially difficult, dehydration rapidly develops, life-threatening.

Treatment, complications and prevention of salmonellosis infection

In the treatment of salmonellosis, the following measures are necessary:

• Gastric lavage.
• Stopping diarrhea with absorbent drugs or calcium preparations (up to 5 grams per day at one time – in adults).
• Fight against dehydration. In mild forms, drinking plenty of water, oral saline solutions is indicated. In severe forms – intravenous drip fluid in a hospital. With vascular collapse and increasing intoxication – intensive care.
• Antibacterial therapy can be used as prescribed by a doctor, but is usually ineffective. Sometimes an anti-Salmonella bacteriophage is used: a specially bred strain of viruses that infects Salmonella cells.
• In the process of how to treat salmonellosis, general strengthening therapy, dietary nutrition for 1-3 months (mechanically and chemically sparing food, the exclusion of milk, alcohol and foods rich in coarse fiber, canned food and smoked meats, spicy, spicy and fatty foods), vitamins, physiotherapy (coniferous baths, electrophoresis), physiotherapy exercises.

Complications. Severe dehydration can lead to circulatory collapse and death from heart failure.

In the septic form, such complications of salmonellosis as arthritis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis, as well as meningitis, appendicitis, abscesses of the brain, spleen, liver and kidneys develop.

Pneumonia and urinary tract infections can develop as secondary infections.

Prevention begins at enterprises producing meat and sausages. The sanitary and epidemic service, together with the veterinary service, are obliged to monitor compliance with the rules for slaughtering livestock and processing carcasses; standards for storage and processing of meat, to conduct a survey of workers upon admission to food enterprises and children's institutions, to investigate all cases of outbreaks of foodborne infections associated with substandard products, to identify and eliminate their causes.

The population is not recommended to buy meat and fish, eggs and smoked products from hands, to eat them without sufficient heat treatment. To prevent salmonellosis, it is necessary to regularly treat toys and child care items with soapy water, boil nipples and bottles in any contact with the soil or the floor, teach children to wash their hands regularly as early as possible and make sure that they do it thoroughly and correctly.

Since, after clinical recovery, the patient is able to excrete bacteria for up to 3 months, he needs regular examinations, and the room where he lives (especially common areas) is sanitized.

Food workers require special attention, as they can infect a large number of the population. Therefore, they are recommended to conduct a monthly study of feces, and the issue of admission to work with food products is decided jointly by an infectious disease specialist and an epidemiologist.