Salmonellosis spread through the fecal-oral pathway. Taking food or drink contaminated by Salmonella is the only way of getting the bacteria. Under normal circumstances, patients develop diarrhea, vomiting, fever and abdominal cramps 8-72 hours after infected by Salmonella. Your immune system is weakened after Salmonella infection so you can be infected repeatedly. Treatment focuses on maintaining water and electrolyte balance, along with necessary symptomatic treatment. Antibiotics should not be used if there are no gastroenteritis symptoms. That is because antibiotics do not shorten the course of the disease but induce bacteria drug resistance, which makes treatment more difficult. Patients with severe symptoms along with chronic diseases or immunodeficiency should be given antibiotics.
How is Salmonella infection treated in practice?