What are the treatments for salmonella food poisoning?
Even though Salmonella food poisoning is a bacterial infection, most practitioners do not treat simple cases with antibiotics. Studies have shown that using antibiotics does not usually reduce the length of time that the patient is ill. Paradoxically, it appears that antibiotics do, however, cause the patient to shed bacteria in their feces for a longer period of time. In order to decrease the length of time that a particular individual is a carrier who can spread the disease, antibiotics are generally not given. In situations where an individual has a more severe type of infection with Salmonella bacteria, a number of antibiotics may be used. Chloramphenicol was the first antibiotic successfully used to treat Salmonella food poisoning. It is still a drug of choice in developing countries because it is so inexpensive, although some resistance has developed to it. Ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulfonamide have been used successfully in the treatment of infections caused by chloramphenicol
