Salmonella serotypes, Salmonella typhi phage types, and anti-microbial resistance at the University Hospital of the West Indies, Jamaica.

Bacteriologically proved cases of salmonellosis presenting at the University Hospital have increased nearly threefold since 1957. The most striking change has been a considerable increase in the incidence of Salmonella heidelberg and Salmonella derby in the last 5 years, probably resulting from hospital acquired infection. About 80 cases of typhoid fever are reported each year in Jamaica. There has been little change in the prevalence of different phage types of Salmonella typhi since 1961. Paratyphoid fever is rare. Standardized antimicrobial disk-sensitivity testing was performed on selected surviving salmonella strains since 1964. S. typhi has remained fully sensitive to all the agents tested except streptomycin. Other salmonellas, however have shown a significant increase in antimicrobial resistance since 1970. Most of this increase was due to multiple resistance in S. heidelberg and S. derby, and the survival and dissemination of these strains in the hospital environment may be related to antibiotic usage.