Salmonella Infection in Emergency Medicine Treatment & Management

  • Author: Michael D Owens, DO, FACEP, FAAEM; Chief Editor: Rick Kulkarni, MD   more...
 
Updated: May 20, 2010
 

Prehospital Care

  • Perform a standard evaluation of airway, breathing, and circulation.
  • Provide intravenous fluids if signs or symptoms of dehydration are present.
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Emergency Department Care

  • Perform a standard evaluation of airway, breathing, and circulation.
  • Treat with rehydration and electrolyte replacement via oral or intravenous solutions for an uncomplicated gastroenteritis.
  • Transfusions should be based on hemoglobin and hematocrit levels.
  • Symptomatically manage pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
  • Antibiotics are indicated for infants up to 2 months of age, elderly patients, immunocompromised patients, those with a history of sickle cell disease or prosthetic grafts, or patients who have extraintestinal findings.
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Consultations

  • Admission may be required if the patient exhibits unstable vital signs, harbors significant risk factors, is younger than 2 months of age or is elderly, is immunocompromised, or shows signs or symptoms of an extraintestinal manifestation.
  • Appropriate specialty consultation for specific extraintestinal manifestations is indicated.
  • Arrange for follow-up care on an outpatient basis with the patient’s primary care physician if discharged from the emergency department.
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Contributor Information and Disclosures
Author

Michael D Owens, DO, FACEP, FAAEM  Assistant Professor of Military/Emergency Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, F Edward Hebert School of Medicine; Clinical Faculty, Emergency Medicine Residency, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth; Consulting Staff, Department of Emergency Medicine, Chesapeake Emergency Physicians, Inc, Chesapeake Regional Medical Center

Michael D Owens, DO, FACEP, FAAEM is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, and American Osteopathic Association

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Dirk A Warren, MD  Emergency Medicine Resident, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth

Dirk A Warren, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Emergency Physicians, and Society of United States Naval Flight Surgeons

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Mark Louden, MD, FACEP  Assistant Medical Director, Emergency Department, Duke Raleigh Hospital

Mark Louden, MD, FACEP is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine and American College of Emergency Physicians

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD  Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy; Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine

Disclosure: eMedicine Salary Employment

Jeter (Jay) Pritchard Taylor III, MD  Compliance Officer, Attending Physician, Emergency Medicine Residency, Department of Emergency Medicine, Palmetto Health Richland, University of South Carolina School of Medicine; Medical Director, Department of Emergency Medicine, Palmetto Health Baptist

Jeter (Jay) Pritchard Taylor III, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

John D Halamka, MD, MS  Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Chief Information Officer, CareGroup Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School; Attending Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

John D Halamka, MD, MS is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Rick Kulkarni, MD 

Rick Kulkarni, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: WebMD Salary Employment

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Under a moderately high magnification of 8000X, this colorized scanning electron micrograph (SEM) revealed the presence of a small grouping of gram-negative Salmonella typhimurium bacteria that had been isolated from a pure culture. Image courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bette Jensen, and Janice Haney Carr.
 
 
 
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