Antibiotic susceptibilities of <i>Salmonella</i> species prevalent among children of 0-5 years with diarrhea in Katsina state, Nigeria

This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of Salmonella\udspecies among children having diarrhea in Katsina State, Nigeria. A \udtotal of 220 diarrhea stool samples of children aged five years and \udbelow (0-5 years) were collected and screened for Salmonella species \udusing culture technique. Presumptively positive isolates were further \udscreened biochemically and serologically, using MicrogenTM\udEnterobactericeae ID kit and MicrogenTM Salmonella rapid confirmatory \udlatex agglutination test kit. Antibiotic susceptibility of confirmed \udisolates was carried out and resistance patterns of the isolates \uddetermined. The highest incidence was observed in children of 13-24 \udmonths of age and the least in children of 0-12 months of age. There \udwas a higher prevalence in male than female children. All the isolates \udscreened were resistant to Ampicillin and Amoxicillin and of these, \ud90.9% were resistant to Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and 45.5% were \udresistant to Nalidixic acid. However, 100% were sensitive to \udGentamicin, 90.9% were sensitive to Ciprofloxacin and Cefotaxime and \ud9.09% showed reduced susceptibility to Ciprofloxacin. Both the \udoccurrence of Salmonella in children and their resistance to multiple \udantibiotics as observed are of public health significance. The vein of this \udstudy underscores the importance of routine monitoring of the \udincidence of Salmonella and continued health education of caregivers