The molecular basis of extensively drug-resistant Salmonella Typhi isolates from pediatric septicemia patients

Abstract

Sepsis is a syndromic response to infections and is becoming an emerging threat to the public health sector, particularly in developing countries. Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi), the cause of typhoid fever, is one primary cause of pediatric sepsis in typhoid endemic areas. Extensively drug-resistant (XDR) S. Typhi is more common among pediatric patients, which is responsible for over 90% of the reported XDR typhoid cases, but the majority of antibiotic resistance studies available have been carried out using S. Typhi isolates from adult patients. Here, we characterized XDR S. Typhi isolates from a medium size cohort of pediatric typhoid patients to determine their antibiotic-resistance-related gene signatures associated with common treatment options to typhoid fever patients. This study informs the molecular basis of antibiotic-resistance among recent S. Typhi isolates from pediatric septicemia patients, therefore providing insights into the development of molecular detection methods and control strategies for XDR S. Typhi.