Salmonella serotypes isolated from gastroenteritis patients and healthy carriers in northern Italy. A twelve years retrospective study.

Salmonella serotypes isolated from 33,306 patients with acute gastroenteritis over a 12 years period (1975-1986) and Salmonella serotypes isolated from 19,381 healthy individuals in the last three years (1984-1986) are reported. The Salmonella serotypes isolated most frequently from gastroenteric patients are poorly represented among the serotypes present in healthy individuals. These data suggest that Salmonella serotypes involved in human pathology in the area examined are not of human origin and presumably arise from food animals.