Extended drug resistance in children with typhoid fever.

In developing countries, typhoid fever is mostly seen due to poor public health and low socioeconomic indices. Currently Pakistan is going through the largest outbreak of XDR typhoid fever which has resulted in increased morbidity and mortality especially in pediatric population. Objectives: To see the pattern of extended drug resistant typhoid fever in different areas of Karachi. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Department of pediatrics, Ziauddin Hospital (KDLB, NORTH, CLIFTON campus). Period: 6 months from October 2018 till March 2019. Material & Methods: All patients who presented with history of fever for 3 or more days with signs and symptoms of typhoid fever were recruited. For data collection a self-structured questionnaire was used. Age, gender, socioeconomic status, personal hygiene, water supply and sanitation were taken into account. Blood samples were sent for cultures. Salmonella isolates were tested for antibiotic susceptibility. Tested antimicrobials were ampicillin, TMP/SMX, cefixime, ceftriaxone, aztreonam, ciprofloxacin, azithromycin, meropenem. For data analysis SPSS version 22 was used. Results: Out of 415 patients, 235 had culture proven typhoid fever. Salmonella typhi was isolated in 94.4%of the patients and salmonella paratyphi was isolated in 5.57%. Of the 235, Males were 62% and females were 42.4%. Major determinants associated with acquiring salmonella infection were young age (74%), male sex (62%), middle and low socioeconomic status (83.8%), living in west district of Karachi (54.9%) and drinking line water (79.2%). Extended drug resistance was encountered in 69.5%. Most of the isolates were sensitive to meropenem and azithromycin (96.7 %, and 95.5% respectively). Ceftriaxone resistance was prevelant in all three districts of Karachi (p value <0.001), in different age groups 1-6yrs (98%), 7-12 yrs(91%), 13-18 yrs (100%) and in males(58%) predominantly. Conclusion: Karachi is facing an outbreak of XDR typhoid fever. Risk of acquiring extended drug resistant typhoid fever is increased in younger age group 1-6 yrs, males, west district of Karachi and poor socioeconomic status. Drinking unboiled water is identified as one of the major culprits. Actions should be taken at all health care levels to monitor the judicious use of antibiotics, and preventive strategies like safe water supply, improved sanitation along with typhoid vaccination are suggested to overcome this outbreak.