Epidemiol Infect (2013), 141, 1604–1613 f Cambridge University Press 2012 doi:10.1017/S0950268812002014 Epidemiological features and risk factors of Salmonella gastroenteritis in children resident in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam C N T H O M P S O N 1,2, V T M P HA N 2, T P T L E 2, T N T P HA M 3, L P HO A NG 4, V HA 5, V M H N GU Y E N 2, V M P H A M 2, T V NG UY E N 2, T T C A O 2, T T N T R A N 2, T T H NG UY E N 3, M T DA O 6, J I C A M P B E LL 1,2, T C NG UY EN 5, C T T A N G 5, M T H A 4, J F A R R A R 1,2 A N D S B A KE R 1,2* Centre for Tropical Medicine, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Oxford University, Oxford, UK Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programme, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Children’s Hospital 2, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Children’s Hospital 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Geomatics Center, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Received 21 December 2011; Final revision 12 July 2012; Accepted 13 August 2012; first published online 25 September 2012 SUMMARY Non-typhoidal Salmonella are an important but poorly characterized cause of paediatric diarrhoea in developing countries We conducted a hospital-based case-control study in children aged 2 children (cases 20.8 %, controls 10.2% ; OR 2.32, 95% CI 1.2–4.7) Our findings indicate that Salmonella are an important cause of paediatric gastroenteritis in this setting and we suggest that transmission may occur through direct human contact in the home Key words: Bacterial infections, epidemiology, paediatrics, Salmonella INTRODUCTION Diarrhoea is the second leading cause of death in children aged