Nursing Care of Common Symptoms for Antimicrobial Resistance and Multi-Drug Resistant Strains in Pediatric Typhoid Cases

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of MDR S. enteric typhi strains isolated from children diagnosed with typhoid fever and to describe the most common clinical features of infection and assess the susceptibility of isolates to commonly used antimicrobial agents.

Study Design: Retrospective observational study
Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the General AL-Habbobi Hospital for Children in Nassiriya, Iraq from 1st January 2025 to 30th June 2025.

Methods: One hundred and forty eight children who had been clinically diagnosed with typhoid febrile were enrolled.

Results: Salmonella typhi was present in 42 (28.4%). Thirty nine (92.9%) of the isolates had multi-drug resistance (MDR). They were resistant to ampicillin, gentamicin, cotrimoxazole, co-amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, and
tetracycline, among other antimicrobials. However, 96.6 % of the strains were sensitive to amikacin, furazolidone, levofloxacin, and meropenem, which were all equally efficient against all the strains. Regarding resistant strains of S. typhi, the minimum inhibitory concentration of antimicrobial medicines was (MIC ≥0.25 mg/L). One of the most common types of phage found was type 0. In all pediatric age categories, the rate of S. typhi isolation was comparable to one another overall. In every one of the instances, fever was the primary presenting symptom. Other symptoms that were related to MDR typhoid fever patients that were not complicated after admission were headache (35.7%), enteric fever (30.8%), and stomach pain (18.7%). The incidence reached (21.1%), in addition to various other symptoms. There were (42.9%) of patients who had hepatosplenomegaly.

Conclusion: The high resistance rates to commonly used antibiotics, emphasizing the urgent need for effective antimicrobial stewardshipandadherence to international treatment guidelines.