What Is Salmonella Enteriditis?

Salmonella is a genus of bacteria in the Enterobacteriaceae family, and is closely related to E. coli. Salmonella infections in humans are caused by the most commonly known species of Salmonella, Salmonella enterica. This species comes in three varieties, each of which is responsible for a different illness. The infectious strains, or serovars, are S. typhi, S. typhimurium, and S. enteritidis. S. enteritidis infection is by far the most common food-borne illness in the United States, occurring in nearly 1.5 million people per year, and is the most well-known cause of salmonellosis.

Symptoms

Symptoms of Salmonella food poisoning include severe headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping and pain, fever and other flu-like symptoms. Onset of symptoms is usually sudden, and occurs 12 hours to 3 days after initial exposure. The disease may last for up to a week, though it commonly subsides in a few days. S. enteritidis infection, unlike some other Salmonella infections, is generally not serious, with a mortality rate of less than 0.08 percent. However, young children, the elderly and immunocompromised patients may suffer more severely from the illness.

Diagnosis

Because the symptoms of salmonellosis are common to a number of diseases, S. enteritidis must be identified in the stool of the patient in order to acquire a conclusive diagnosis. Once salmonella infection has been suspected, a stool sample is sent to a laboratory, where cultures will be grown. Tests conventionally take about 5 days, but faster methods may yield results in as little as 2 days. The stool testing can isolate the strain of salmonella as S. enteritidis, and can determine which antibiotic will be most effective as treatment.

Treatment

Most patients recover with no treatment at all. In more severe cases, however, antibiotics may be used to combat the infection, in possible combination with dehydration treatments for lost fluids. As is a concern with most pathogenic bacteria, Salmonella may be gradually becoming more resistant to antibiotics. For this reason, treatment with antibiotics is usually avoided in cases where the patient can recover on his own.

Complications

Though symptoms fully subside in most infected individuals, about 3 percent go on to develop a disease known as Reiter's syndrome, a form of reactive arthritis. Symptoms of this illness include painful, arthritic joints, painful urination due to infection of the urethra, and eye infections such as conjunctivitis. The disease may occur as an isolated incident or become chronic, and may be difficult to treat.

Transmission

The most common source of S. enteritidis infection is from contaminated food products, most famously eggs and poultry. Infection may occur from eating the food directly, or as a result of poor hygiene. An individual may touch the infected food and then fail to properly wash his hands before eating or serving others. Good hygiene and thorough cooking of meat and poultry are generally sufficient to prevent infection and transmission.