Salmonellosis is an infection caused by Salmonella bacteria. It travels in feces and is often spread by animals. Furthermore, the bacteria is extremely hardy -- surviving weeks in a dry environment and months in a cold, wet one. While salmonellosis generally passes in a week with symptomatic treatment, it can be fatal in some populations.
What is Salmonellosis?
Salmonellosis is one of the most common foodborne illnesses in the United States. In most generally healthy adults, it only causes diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever, muscles aches, and headaches. This can be managed symptomatically, but drinking plenty of fluids and sticking to a normal diet as much as possible to ensure adequate nutrition. Anti-diarrheals can actually extend the life of diarrheal symptoms, although it may be less severe. Antimicrobial therapy or antibiotics are not recommended if they are not strictly necessary, as you may wind up carrying the bacteria longer than by letting it go away on its own.
Fatality in High-Risk Populations
The exception to avoiding antibiotics is in critical populations that are more susceptible to severe aspects of the disease. Research has shown elderly populations can be infected by exposure to nearly half the amount of bacteria younger adults must be exposed to to become ill.
In addition to elderly patients, infants or very young children, and people with a compromised or suppressed immune system (such as patients with AIDS or sickle cell disease and those on medications such as corticosteroids or medications to prevent rejection following an organ transplant) are all more susceptible to salmonellosis symptoms. Such severe diarrhea, particularly in cases when it is present for a week, can cause severe dehydration, loss of nutrients, and lack of nutrition. Additionally, the Salmonella can spread from the gastrointestinal tract into the bloodstream and into additional organs around the body. For these patients, hospitalization is most necessary, as the illness can indeed be fatal.
Typhoid Fever
Salmonellosis is not only a common food poisoning; some serotypes are also responsible for Typhoid fever. Typhoid fever is rare in the United States, but extremely common in undeveloped countries with poor sanitation systems and a considerable lack of hygiene or clean water.
The symptoms of Typhoid fever are very similar to that of salmonellosis with the addition of an abdominal rash, blood in the stool, bloody noses, and a hallucinatory delirium. These symptoms can last from two weeks to a month. While early treatment usually merits a good prognosis, the longer the disease is allowed to run its course without faltering, the worse the outcome -- and complications become more likely to develop.
The complications include severe bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, peritonitis (in which pus and blood gather in and irritate the abdomen) and kidney failure. These are all potentially fatal on their own, but especially deadly in the undeveloped countries in which Typhoid fever can run rampant, where medical care is more difficult to find. Take care when travelling, as this bacteria can be found in contaminated water or food sources.
