Shigellosis is an infectious disease caused by a group of bacteria called Shigella. People infected with Shigella usually have watery or bloody diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps. These symptoms start a day or two after exposure to the bacterium. Infected persons usually recover within 5-7 days.

Getting diarrhea is not that uncommon, so how do you know if you have shigellosis or something else?

Diarrhea caused by Shigella is often more severe than diarrhea caused by something else. The first bowel movement is usually large and watery. Later bowel movements may be smaller, but the diarrhea may have blood or mucus in it.

Other symptoms of shigellosis include:

• Abdominal cramps
• High fever
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea and vomiting
• Painful bowel movements

In very severe cases, a person may have seizures, a stiff neck, a headache, extreme tiredness, and confusion. Shigellosis can also lead to dehydration and in rare cases, other complications, such as kidney failure.

Shigella bacteria can contaminate food and water supplies. However, most of the time the bacteria are spread when a person comes into contact with another person’s stool (poop). That’s one of the reasons why it is important to wash your hands after using the restroom. Shigella bacteria can spread easily within families, schools, child-care centers, nursing homes, and other institutions. Shigellosis can affect people of any age, but it is especially common in children ages 2-3 years because they are often not toilet trained yet and do not properly wash their hands after using the bathroom.

If you or your child has severe diarrhea or a bloody stool, you should contact a doctor right away. The doctor may take a sample of your stool to test for Shigella bacteria. The doctor may also take some blood tests to check for other causes of a bloody stool. The doctor cannot be sure that you have shigellosis unless your stool sample is sent to a laboratory for testing. This test may not be performed unless the laboratory is told to look for the bacteria.

Shigellosis can usually be treated with antibiotics that your doctor will prescribed for you. You should avoid using anti-diarrheal medications because they will only make symptoms worse.

After a person is exposed to Shigella bacteria, it usually takes 2 to 4 days for symptoms to show. Most people feel sick for 5 to 7 days. Some serious cases of Shigellosis cause dehydration and severe rectal bleeding. Those cases are usually admitted to a hospital for treatment.

The Shigella bacteria live in the human from the time they are sick until the bacteria no longer tests positive in a stool sample. This means that if you are sick with Shigellosis and then get better, the bacteria is still in your stool and you can still infect other people, even though you do not feel sick anymore.

People who have shigellosis should drink lots of liquids to replace fluids lost from diarrhea, vomiting, and fever. You may need to be on a liquid diet for a day or so until your stomach is able to handle solid foods. Your doctor may suggest you use special drinks that replace body fluids quickly. Drinking plenty of fluids is very important because it is easy to become dehydrated when you have shigellosis.

Be sure to check with your doctor before taking any nonprescription medicines to relieve your diarrhea. These medicines might actually make your symptoms worse because slowing down the diarrhea keeps the bacteria and their toxins in your body longer!

As you recover from shigellosis, your bowel movements will slowly return to normal. Most people get better without experiencing any long lasting problems.

There is no vaccine to prevent Shigellosis. You can stop the spread of Shigella by washing your hands properly many times throughout the day. Washing your hands properly means using soap and rubbing your hands together for at least 20 seconds before rinsing. You should wash your hands throughout the day, but especially after using the bathroom and before handling food or water. Frequent and supervised hand-washing of all children should be followed in daycare centers and in homes where children are not entirely toilet trained.

If you are caring for someone who has shigellosis (like changing the diaper of a younger sibling or child or if you are babysitting), make sure you carefully wash your hands before touching anything as you can spread the bacteria by touching countertops and even clothing. After someone with shigellosis uses a toilet, it should be cleaned and disinfected before anyone else uses it.

No! Infants and toddlers that are sick should not attend daycare or be in close contact with other children. Teenagers and adults that are sick should stay away from food preparation, daycare employment, or nursing home employment until cleared by two negative stool samples. The best way to stop the spread of shigellosis is to keep infected individuals away from others!

Information obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Nemours Center for Children’s Health Media.

Shigellosis is a Category I reportable disease. Shigella cases should be reported to the local health department within 24 hours of first knowledge or suspicion by telephone, fax, or other rapid means of communication.

 Shigella Protocol for Doctors:

• Obtain a stool specimen of any child or adult presenting with a history of diarrhea, particularly if they attend daycare or have a household member who has been diagnosed with confirmed Shigella
• Send stool specimen to the State Public Health Lab for processing
• Begin patient on appropriate course of treatment (Many cases are being found to be resistant to Septra and Amoxicillin)
• Obtain and send a second culture 48 hours after completion of treatment

 A child may NOT return to daycare until TWO negative cultures have been obtained.

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