Nontyphoidal, nonparatyphoidal salmonella septicemia in adults.

A 12-year review identified 21 patients with nontyphoidal, nonparatyphoidal salmonella septicemia. Eight of the patients had no predisposing factors. Factors identified included malignancy in five, recent surgery in four, alcoholism with aspiration pneumonia in two, chronic lung disease in two, diabetes in two, systemic lupus erythematosus in one and burns in one. Ten patients presented with gastroenteritis, two with localized abscesses, two with aspiration pneumonia and the remainder with nonspecific septicemia. Three patients died of underlying diseases and three died shortly after the septicemia of related causes. Six cases were nosocomial infection and were not related to hospital outbreaks. Salmonella septicemia with these serotypes is uncommon (1 per 14,000 admissions, 1 per 4000 blood cultures) and can occur in patients without diminished host resistance.