study of 163 children with invasive salmonella infection in pediatric medical center1

invasive salmonellosis is common in tropical areas. this study examines the performance of a clinical definition for its recognition among children ages 1 to 14 years admitting to a referral pediatric hospital in tehran. 60 children were enrolled into the study during a period of 51 months. to facilitate analysis, cases were divided into 5 categories according to the likelihood of invasive salmonellosis with category a representing microbiologically confirmed salmonella bacteremia 17 (28.3%) and 6 (10%) with positive bone marrow cultures. and category d representing those cases in which an alternative diagnosis was firmly established. salmonella serology supported invasive salmonellosis as the diagnosis in 17 (28%) of the nonbacteremic children (category b and c). salmonella serology suggested that invasive salmonellosis without detectable bacteremia was common. blood culture proved and serologically diagnosed cases shows that the definition has a specificity of at least 60%.