Shigella
Shigella
Updated: 02/03/2024
© Jun Wang, MD, PhD
General features
- G-negative rods, non-motile, noncapsulated, facultatively anaerobic
- Highly virulent
- Leading cause of diarrheal death, with most common in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa
- 4 groups: S. dysenteriae, S. flexneri, S. boydii, S. sonnei
Key clinical features
- Fecal-oral Transmission
- Severity depends on age of patient and the strain
- S. dysenteriae type 1 with toxin most severe
- Fever (generally >101.0°F)
- Lower abdominal cramps; tenesmus; multiple scanty, bloody, mucoid stools
- Diarrhea: first watery, then bloody with WBCs
Pathogenesis:
- Invasive but rarely causes septicemia
- Invade submucosa through M-cells (Microfold cells over lymphoid aggregates)
- Proliferate in macrophage
- Invade the basolateral side of colonic epithelial cells
- Polymerize actin “jet trails” to spread laterally
- Endotoxin triggers inflammation
- Exotoxin
- Produced by S. dysenteriae, type 1
- Similar to EHEC toxin, causing hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)
- Three activities:
- Neurotoxic
- Cytotoxic
- Enterotoxic
Diagnosis
- Culture on selective media, may grow on MacConkey agar
- G-, Non-lactose, H2S negative
- Serology (anti-O antibody) and molecular testing
Management
- Mild cases: fluid and electrolyte replacement
- Severe cases: antibiotics
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