Shigellosis, a disease caused by Shigella spp., is endemic in Malaysia. Its low infective dose and ease of spread through person-to-person transmission by the faecal-oral route make this infection difficult to control in outbreak situations. Antimicrobial therapy is recommended for shigellosis because it can shorten the severity and duration of illness, reduce shedding of the organism, and prev...

Although shigellosis is a potentially fatal disease that may cause a number of extra-intestinal manifestations, intractable septic shock is an unusual complication. Here we describe a 6-month-old infant who developed severe septic shock and convulsions during an episode of dysentery caused by multidrug-resistant Shigella dysenteriae. The case presentation demonstrates how shigellosis can lead t...

BrAfedj 1990;301:1325-6 Toxic megacolon is a rare complication of shigellosis (bacillary dysentery) but it occurs with acute infections caused by Salmonella spp, Campylobacter jejuni, and Yersinia enterocolitica.'4 A correct diagnosis is essential because treatment with corticosteroids can cause serious, potentially fatal complications. Furthermore, an unnecessary colonic resection may be perfo...

Vascular endothelial cells are highly specialized cells with numerous sensory and modulator functions. Our previous studies show extensive microvascular changes in rectal mucosal vasculature of patients with acute infective diarrhea (Mathan and Mathan 1985a, Gut 26:710-717). We looked for changes in the duodenal mucosal vasculature in two naturally occurring diarrheal infections: shigellosis an...

In the last 20 years, epidemic bacillary dysentery due to Shigella dysenteriae type 1 has become an important cause of serious morbidity and death in children less than 5 years of age in a number of developing countries; in many instances the infecting strains have been resistant to many or all of the usually recommended antibiotics. Moreover, an increasing proportion of Shigella strains of oth...

Following the clinical observation that there appeared to be an association between shigellosis and male homosexuality, the medical records of 113 patients at The New York Hospital were reviewed retrospectively. Of the 38 males studied who were between the ages 19 and 61, seventeen were homosexual (44-7 per cent.). Only one of the matched controls was homosexual. Of the men with shigellosis who...

Increasing rates of shigellosis among adult males, particularly men who have sex with men (MSM), have been documented in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and MSM appear to be at greater risk for infection with shigellae that are not susceptible to ciprofloxacin or azithromycin. Azithromycin is the first-line empiric antimicrobial treatment for shigellosis among children and is a second-li...