We have demonstrated that among NTS causing bloodstream infection in the United States, antimicrobial resistance to the traditional first-line antimicrobial agents ampicillin, chloramphenicol, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole occurs in a substantial proportion of isolates but that susceptibility to fluoroquinolones and extended-spectrum cephalosporins is largely but not completely preserved. We have confirmed that Salmonella serotypes Typhimurium, Enteritidis, and Heidelberg are the most common nontyphoidal Salmonella serotypes isolated from blood in the United States, whereas Salmonella serotypes Dublin, Enteritidis, Heidelberg, Oranienburg, Panama, Sandiego, and Schwarzengrund are relatively more often isolated from blood compared with Salmonella serotype Typhimurium. Furthermore, we have shown that bloodstream isolates are more likely to be resistant to one or more antimicrobial agents than stool isolates and that this association persists even within common NTS serotypes. Since invasive NTS disease occurs more often among those ≥65 years of age, patients with invasive NTS infection in the United States may present with the dual management considerations of comorbid conditions and increased risk for bacteremia with nonsusceptible isolates compared with those with uncomplicated NTS diarrhea.
Ampicillin, chloramphenicol, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole are unlikely to be used alone for the empirical management of community-acquired sepsis, for the management of bacteremia due to Gram-negative organisms, or for the specific treatment of NTS bacteremia in the United States. The first-line treatment options are most commonly fluoroquinolones and extended-spectrum cephalosporins (
16). Among invasive NTS isolates included in this study, 26 (2.5%) were resistant to the extended-spectrum cephalosporin ceftriaxone. Although resistance to ciprofloxacin, according to current CLSI guidelines, was not identified among invasive NTS isolates, the occurrence of nalidixic acid resistance in 28 (2.7%) invasive isolates, predominantly
Salmonella Enteritidis, is cause for concern. Nalidixic acid correlates well with decreased susceptibility to ciprofloxacin (DCS; ciprofloxacin MIC of 0.12 to 1.0 μg/ml). While fewer data are available for invasive NTS, DCS has been associated with longer times to defervescence and greater risk for relapse among persons with
Salmonella Typhi bloodstream infection (
6,
7,
37). Resistance to nalidixic acid, usually resulting from a single chromosomal point mutation in the DNA gyrase gene, is considered to be an initial step toward the development of ciprofloxacin resistance, which is usually associated with two or more chromosomal point mutations. Consequently, the occurrence of nalidixic acid resistance among NTS bloodstream isolates warrants vigilance for the emergence of ciprofloxacin resistance. Ceftriaxone resistance was identified among NTS bloodstream isolates belonging to
Salmonella serotypes Newport (
17), Heidelberg, Dublin, Typhimurium (
38), Enteritidis, and Saintpaul, in descending order of frequency. While ceftriaxone resistance remains uncommon, it is important that clinicians be aware that resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins may occur among invasive NTS, particularly since outbreaks of multidrug-resistant
Salmonella Newport resistant to extended-spectrum cephalosporins have been reported in the United States (
17). Consequently, clinicians should be aware of the local epidemiology of NTS and carefully review results of antimicrobial susceptibility testing once available from the clinical laboratory.
Salmonella Typhimurium, Enteritidis, and Heidelberg are among the most common
Salmonella serotypes isolated from stool samples in the United States and are also the most frequently isolated from the bloodstream (
36). However, substantial differences exist between serotypes in the proportion of isolates recovered from the bloodstream relative to isolates recovered from stool. For example, although
Salmonella Dublin was an uncommon serotype during the period of study, the bloodstream was the source in 39 (86.7%) of 45 cases. Therefore, relative to
Salmonella Typhimurium,
Salmonella Dublin was much more likely to be isolated from a normally sterile site. It is usually surmised that
Salmonella Dublin has a greater propensity to cause invasive disease (
11), although it is conceivable that a similar pattern would be observed if a
Salmonella serotype was less likely than other serotypes to cause diarrhea. Consistent with other studies (
21,
36), in addition to
Salmonella Dublin,
Salmonella serotypes Sandiego, Schwarzengrund, Panama, Heidelberg, Oranienburg, and Enteritidis were also associated with greater risk for invasive disease than
Salmonella Typhimurium. In our study and in previous work (
34), the presence of antimicrobial resistance to one or more antimicrobial agent was associated with risk for invasive disease independent of
Salmonella serotype. Furthermore, older individuals were at greater risk for invasive disease than those 18 to 64 years of age. Therefore, changes in predominant
Salmonella serotypes and patterns of antimicrobial resistance among circulating strains may alter the risk for invasive NTS disease in a community. A
Salmonella outbreak due to a serotype with greater invasive potential and the presence of resistance to antimicrobial agents should alert clinicians and public health officials to the possibility of a greater risk for NTS bacteremia among those sickened. In this setting and based on our findings, older individuals would be at even greater risk for invasive disease than younger age groups.
Patterns of antimicrobial resistance observed among invasive NTS varied considerably by
Salmonella serogroup. Many clinical laboratories have the capacity to serologically identify common somatic antigens of
Salmonella prior to the availability of the results of antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Therefore, we have presented antimicrobial resistance findings by serogroup. Nalidixic acid resistance, for example, was identified in serogroup O:4 (B), O:7 (C
1), and O:9 (D
1) but not among isolates from other serogroups. While small numbers limited our ability to make clear statements about the association of both serotype and serogroup with invasiveness, patterns of antimicrobial resistance in serogroups may often have been driven predominantly by one serotype. For example, bloodstream NTS isolates with R-type ACSSuT occurred only in serogroups O:4 (B), O:8 (C
2-C
3), and O:9 (D
1) in this study but appeared to be driven almost exclusively by the occurrence of R-type ACSSuT with
Salmonella serotypes Typhimurium (
12,
32), Newport (
17), and Dublin (
9), respectively. Of clinical concern, resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins was common in
Salmonella Newport and Dublin isolates with R-type ACSSuT.
This study has a number of limitations. Although the study covers a period of 12 years and represents a large proportion of the United States population, NARMS receives a relatively small sample of NTS isolates. Consequently, only 1,050 bloodstream NTS isolates were available for evaluation in this collection. The relatively small number of bloodstream isolates limited our ability to make assessments of uncommon patterns of antimicrobial resistance, particularly within rare
Salmonella serogroups and serotypes. Furthermore, we were unable to examine bacterial phylogeny within serotypes with respect to invasiveness (
24). We were unable to examine time trends in changes in patterns of antimicrobial resistance. This was not only due to relatively small numbers of bloodstream isolates but also because we measure change on a multiplicative rather than additive scale, producing odds ratios rather than risk differences. Consequently, it was not possible to express changes relative to baseline for situations where baseline prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was zero, a common situation for several antimicrobial agents in this study. Because NARMS collects limited sociodemographic and clinical information, we were unable to thoroughly explore host risk factors for invasive NTS in the United States. However, such factors have been more thoroughly examined by others (
34).
In summary, NTS is an important cause of community-acquired bacteremia in the United States, particularly affecting older persons and the immunocompromised. While antimicrobial resistance to the traditional first-line antimicrobial agents ampicillin, chloramphenicol, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole occurs in a substantial minority of isolates, most remain susceptible to fluoroquinolones and extended-spectrum cephalosporins. The occurrence of nalidixic acid resistance among NTS bloodstream isolates suggests that decreased ciprofloxacin susceptibility is present, may be associated with poorer patient outcomes, and could herald future development of fluoroquinolone resistance. Furthermore, the presence of resistance to ceftriaxone underscores the need for clinicians to be aware of the results of antimicrobial susceptibility testing results and to closely monitor the clinical course of individual patients with NTS bacteremia. While the NTS serotypes causing invasive disease in the United States largely reflect those associated with enteric infections, some serotypes are associated with greater risk for invasive infection, particularly when the infecting strain is resistant to one or more antimicrobial agents. Furthermore, some patterns of antimicrobial resistance cluster within serogroups. Since many clinical laboratories can serogroup NTS isolates, serogroup information can provide broad clues to anticipated patterns of antimicrobial resistance. Ongoing surveillance for antimicrobial resistance in NTS will provide epidemiologic information to clinicians about anticipated patterns of resistance in NTS strains. As more data are collected, results will be used to detect changes in serotypes, invasiveness, and the prevalence of resistance. Such data could contribute to the evaluation of strategies for the prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance during food production.