New genomics studies to understand the link between nontyphoidal Salmonella bacteremia and gastroenteritis in Africa

Dear Editor – Nontyphoidal Salmonellae (NTS) are attracting increasing attention as a cause of invasive disease among African children and HIVinfected individuals [1-4]. However, these invasive (hence iNTS) infections continue to cause confusion, partly because of the contrasting clinical presentations of NTS disease in highand low-income countries [4]. NTS in US and Europe normally cause self-limiting gastroenteritis [5]. In sub-Saharan Africa, they cause bacteremia [2] with symptoms of gastroenteritis in under half of patients [1]. Case fatality rates for NTS bacteremia are 20-25%, multidrug resistance is increasing, and no vaccine is available [1,4].