Treatment of Salmonella typhi Carriers with Intravenous Ampicillin

Abstract

Nineteen carriers of Salmonella typhi were studied; five had gallstones, and the others were documented biliary-tract carriers of S. typhi. One patient had already undergone cholecystectomy. A dose of ampicillin (1 g) was administered iv every 8 hr for 15 days. In all cases, cultures of stool became negative during treatment and remained so throughout the 16- to 24-month period of follow-up. S. Typhi was absent from the bile, the wall of the gallbladder, and the calculi of one patient who later underwent cholecystectomy. In a second part of this study, a single dose of ampicillin (1 g) was given either orally or iv before cholecystectomy to two groups of four patients each. Levels of ampicillin in serum, bile, gallbladder wall, and gallstones were found to be higher after iv administration than after oral administration.