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Home › Articles › General Health › Studying Salmonella

Studying Salmonella

Causes and Risks for Infants

By Teri Brown

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Salmonella infection in infants is more common than in any other age group. Of the 50,000 cases reported in the United States, more than one-third of those are in children ages 4 and under.

A recent study in the journal Pediatrics explored the causes and risk factors of salmonella in infants. Dr. Timothy Jones, deputy state epidemiologist, Tennessee Department of Health, is one of the authors of the study. He says that not only do infants have the highest rates of salmonella infection compared to other age groups, but the way they contract the infection is different from adults.

"In adults, foreign travel, consumption of undercooked eggs and poultry and many other risk factors are known, but prior to this study little was known about risk factors specifically in infants," Dr. Jones says.

Risk Factors
According to Dr. Jones, the study shows 6 key differences between babies who get salmonella infection and those who don't:

1. Breastfed babies are less likely to get salmonella infection. Breastfeeding is well known to protect infants against many infectious diseases, and many other health problems.

2. Exposure to reptiles ups babies' chance of infection. Reptiles can carry salmonella. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that homes with kids under 5 years old not include reptiles.

3. Babies who ride in a shopping cart next to meat or poultry are more likely to get infected. Putting meat and poultry in a part of the cart away from kids might help, and so might better packaging.

4. Babies older than 3 months who travel outside the United States are more likely to get infected. International travel is a risk factor for many causes of diarrhea, among all age groups.


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