Salmonellosis diagnosed by the laboratory of the 'L. Sacco' Hospital of Milan (Italy) in patients with HIV disease.

We reviewed the cases of typhoid fever (3 cases) and non-typhoid salmonellosis (62 cases) diagnosed from 1987 to 1989 in the Laboratory of Clinical Chemistry and Microbiology of the 'L.Sacco' Hospital, Milan. Two cases of typhoid fever and 24 cases of non-typhoid salmonellosis occurred in patients without clinical symptoms of HIV infection. One case of typhoid fever and 38 cases of non-typhoid salmonellosis occurred in patients with clinical symptoms of HIV infection. In AIDS patients living in the Milan province the annual incidence of non-typhoid salmonellosis was estimated to be 100-fold greater than that observed in the general population. In patients with non-typhoid salmonellosis, bacteremias was found only in subjects with HIV disease (P = 0.0009). The frequency of bacteremia was higher in patients with AIDS than in patients with other manifestations of HIV disease (P = 0.0356). Finally, a significant difference between patients with and without HIV disease was found with regard to Salmonella serotypes distribution (P = 0.0196).