An outbreak of Shiga bacillus dysentery in KwaZulu/Natal, South Africa

An outbreak of Shiga bacillus ( Shigella dysenteriae type 1) infection has been detected for the first time in South Africa. Forty-eight cases of this epidemic that presented to a referral hospital were clinically evaluated. Patients presented with dysentery from all age groups and 16 (33%) were adm...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of infection 1997-03, Vol.34 (2), p.107-111
Main Authors: Pillay, D.G., Karas, A.J., Sturm, A.W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Animals
Bacterial diseases
Bacterial diseases of the digestive system and abdomen
Bacterial Toxins - toxicity
Biological and medical sciences
Cercopithecus aethiops
Child
Child, Preschool
Disease Outbreaks
Dysentery, Bacillary - diagnosis
Dysentery, Bacillary - epidemiology
Dysentery, Bacillary - transmission
Female
HeLa Cells
Human bacterial diseases
Humans
Infant
Infectious diseases
Male
Medical sciences
Microbial Sensitivity Tests
Middle Aged
Shiga Toxins
Shigella dysenteriae
South Africa - epidemiology
Tropical medicine
Vero Cells
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Summary:An outbreak of Shiga bacillus ( Shigella dysenteriae type 1) infection has been detected for the first time in South Africa. Forty-eight cases of this epidemic that presented to a referral hospital were clinically evaluated. Patients presented with dysentery from all age groups and 16 (33%) were admitted to hospital. There were two geographical regions where 32 (67%) of the patients resided. The isolates were demonstrated to be pathogenic by in vitro testing for invasion and toxin production, and were found to be resistant to first line antibiotics that have been used for the treatment of shigellosis ie. ampicillin, cotrimoxazole, tetracycline and chloramphenicol. However, they were susceptible to nalidixic acid, ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin. Urgent, public health measures are needed to prevent further spread of this epidemic.
ISSN:0163-4453
1532-2742
DOI:10.1016/S0163-4453(97)92376-8