Concerns over an intestinal infection that is resistant to medication has caused a "serious public health" alert to be issued in the United States. Diarrhoea, fever and stomach cramps are all symptoms of the shigella bacterial condition, which can result in a life-threatening blood infection in rare cases.
The US' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made the warning following a spike an "extensively drug resistant" shigellosis. They have said that while there are limited antimicrobial treatments available for drug resistant strains, in mild cases good hydration can treat it, the Mirror reports.
The warning stated: “Shigella bacteria are transmitted by the fecal-oral route, directly through person-to-person contact including sexual contact, and indirectly through contaminated food, water, and other routes. Shigella bacteria are easily transmitted because of the low infectious dose (as few as 10–100 organisms), and outbreaks tend to occur among people in close-contact settings [two–six].”
Normally shigellosis affects children, but the spike in cases has seen a rise among adults.
“Given these potentially serious public health concerns, CDC asks healthcare professionals to be vigilant about suspecting and reporting cases of XDR shigella infection to their local or state health department and educating patients and communities at increased risk about prevention and transmission,” the advisory said.
The CDC also said there had been a rise of extensively drug resistant (XDR) cases from zero in 2015, to 5% in 2022. The infection is described as extremely drug resistant when it fails to respond to antibiotics used to treat it.
While antibiotics are not always needed for mild cases of shigellosis, they may still be used in certain situations, said the CDC. It stated: "Most people with diarrheal illness require only supportive care and fluid replacement.
"Antimicrobial agents are not always needed for mild shigellosis, but they may be indicated to - shorten the duration of illness (by about two days) or reduce the likelihood of transmission, for example, during outbreaks in institutional settings, for food handlers to immunocompromised persons or those being treated with immunosuppressive drugs, and people living with HIV."
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