[The use of the latex agglutination test for the rapid diagnosis of salmonellosis in children].

From 237 children hospitalized in the enteric department of an infectious clinic 381 fecal samples were obtained and examined (after 24-hour pre-cultivation in selenite enrichment medium) in the latex agglutination test. The results thus obtained were compared with the data of the bacteriological study of these samples. For the first time the diagnostic value of the latex agglutination test (LAT) both for the early and retrospective diagnosis of Salmonella mono- and combined infections was established. The possibility of using LAT for augmenting the laboratory determination of salmonellosis, on the average, 2.1-fold in cases of acute enteric infections, including 3.3-fold in mild and non-manifest forms of such infections and 6.2-fold in clinical variants of the disease with lesions of the proximal sections of the gastrointestinal tract, was demonstrated.