A type of rod-shaped bacillus is called Salmonella, an important fact is that it is negative to Gram stain, and has the ability to cause diarrheal diseases in humans. They are beings of a very small size that move from the fecal material of people or animals to other individuals or other animals. Within the Salmonella family there are more than 2,300 serotypes of bacteria, which are single-celled organisms so tiny that they cannot be seen under a microscope.
Among the types of Salmonella, two stand out above the rest, which are Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium, being the main responsible for more than 50 percent of all infections in humans.
The pathologies caused by salmonella are quite serious and can be more dangerous for certain individuals, especially those who have a deficient immune system, as can be the case of people with HIV or diabetes. It can even cause death. Salmonellosis is diagnosed through a stool test, annually, about one in ten people contract salmonellosis, of all those people about 45% are children who do not exceed five years of age.
This pathology represents one of the four main causes of diarrheal diseases, in addition, it has an approximate duration of between four and seven days and patients recover without the need for treatment with antibiotics.
Among the characteristic symptoms are diarrhea, fever and cramps in the abdominal area. They appear between six and 48 hours after the food contaminated with the bacillus has been consumed. One of the most common complications is that some may have diarrhea several times a day, for an extended period of time. If that were the case, the sick should be hospitalized.
In many cases, people with salmonellosis usually recover without the application of some type of treatment and may never have the need to go to the doctor. But despite this, Salmonella infections can be life-threatening, especially for infants and young children, pregnant women and their unborn babies, not to mention the elderly.
