Phenotypic characterization of Salmonella typhi isolated from febrile and diarrhea patients in Bauchi, Nigeria

Salmonella typhi infection occur in most endemic areas. Patients suspected of typhoid fever and diarrhea attending health facilities in Bauchi metropolis were the population studied. 384 stool and blood specimens were collected. The aim of the study was to investigate Salmonella typhi using phenotypic analysis to determine whether the organism pose significance attributes among age group or gender and it is specific with fever and diarrhea in Bauchi metropolis, Bauchi, Nigeria. Blood and stool specimens were first enriched in tetrathionate and selenite F broth respectively before sub-cultured on selective medium while identification was conducted with some biochemical analysis. Of the 384 blood and stool specimens screened, 178(46.4 %) yielded significant bacterial growth, while 206(53.6 %) showed no evidence of bacterial growths. Salmonella typhi accounted for 6.2 % of the total bacteria isolated while other Enterobacteriaceae accounted for 93.8 %. Distribution of Salmonella typhi were insignificant in the selected health facility using Cochran-Mantel’s analysis with male and female at (P=0.827), and (P=0.866) in blood and stool specimens respectively. Age groups also shows insignificant attributes to Salmonella typhi investigation at (P=0.44). It continues to maintain a mainstream focus of difficulty to isolate the organism via culture despite the selective medium used for the study. Therefore, screening and identification for Salmonella typhi at phenotypic level still pose a problem in many Health facility. The research has considerably shown the adverse variability of Salmonella typhi from both samples collected among research inclusions.