Objective. To study both the molecular discrimination of D-tartrate fermenting and non-fermenting strains of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serotype Paratyphi B isolated from patients with paratyphoid fever and the clinical course of this disease.
Materials and methods. The isolates examined were from children aged 3 months to 9 years. A total of 33 Salmonella strains were serotyped as Salmonella Paratyphi B, with an antigenic formula based on O- and H- antigens: 1,4, [5], 12: b: 1,2 by Kauffmann–White classification.
Results. Multiplex PCR analysis confirmed all tested strains as d-tartrate fermenting (dT+), also referred to as variant Java.
Discussion. We found that the most common cause of paratyphoid fever among children in Bulgaria is variant Java Salmonella Paratyphi B. Most children had classic symptoms of acute gastroenteritis – fever, watery diarrhea and vomiting.
