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Salmonellae and shigellae in a group of periurban South African Bantu school children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

N.J. Richardson  and
V. Bokkenheuser
N.J. Richardson
Affiliation:
Department of Bacteriology, South African Institute for Medical Research, Johannesburg, South Africa
V. Bokkenheuser
Affiliation:
Department of Bacteriology, South African Institute for Medical Research, Johannesburg, South Africa
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1. Faeces from apparently healthy Bantu school children of a periurban district of Johannesburg were examined eight times at regular intervals over a period of 1 year.

2. Of 75 children, 29·3 % experienced at least one salmonella infection and 2·7 % one shigella infection. It is suggested that over a year nearly all children will have one, and many of them several, infections with these pathogens. The infections occurred at a low rate throughout the year.

3. In most cases the infections were asymptomatic. A few of the children showed evidence of being salmonella carriers of long standing.

4. Eighteen different salmonella types were recovered. Salmonella typhi, S. paratyphi B and S. paratyphi C were absent. The organisms were highly resistant to penicillin, erythromycin and novobiocin and a few strains were also resistant to chloramphenicol and tetracycline.

5. The drinking water was of poor quality and may well be implicated in the transmission of the infections.

Our thanks are due to the Director of this Institute, Dr J. H. S. Gear, for permission to publish this paper; to Mr R. G. Robinson for assessing the microorganisms'sensitivity to antibiotics; and to the South African Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, for a grant enabling us to meet the transport expenses.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 61 , Issue 2 , June 1963 , pp. 257 - 263
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1963

References

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