Description:
Introduction:
Typhoid fever has remained one of major public health problems in developing countries. Appropriate antibiotics are essential for the treatment of typhoid. Chloramphenicol is the only recommended first line treatment of typhoid in Tanzania. The emergence and spread of multidrug resistance to commonly used antibiotics has narrowed therapeutic options especially in children. The knowledge on of local antimicrobial susceptibility patterns is important in order to guide empiric therapy,
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of S.typhi infection in children and sensitivity patterns and trends of multidrug resistance among pediatric patients at Korogwe district Hospital, Tanzania
Methods:
This was a hospital based retrospective analysis of blood cultures taken from febrile children aged 1 month up to 5 years who were admitted in pediatric ward Korogwe District Hospital from July 2008 to May 2013 with laboratory confirmed Salmonella typhi septicemia.
Result.
Over 86% of isolates were resistant to amoxicillin, 79.4% resistant to chloramphenicol and 90.7% were resistant to trimethoprim-suxamethoxazole.Ciprofloxacin, and gentamicin and ceftriaxone were less resistant. Multidrug resistance was shown by 71% of isolates
Conclusion: Multidrug resistance S.typhi is a serious public health problem in this area. The use of chloramphenicol as first line therapy for typhoid should be reconsidered. The effective interventions put in place by health authorities to curb the spread of resistance to antibiotics among bacterial strains are needed.
Key words: Salmonella typhi, multidrug resistance and children