Shigella Blog - Surveillance & analysis on Shigella news & outbreaks

WDRB reports that Jefferson County Kentucky schools are currently seeing a significant increase in Shigella illnesses: 

In the last few months health officials say they've noticed the increase in Shigellosis.

A letter went out to all schools on Wednesday from the health department and will soon alert parents of the outbreak in Louisville.

On November 30th, a notice from Louisville Metro Public Health & Wellness said the health department had received reports of Shigellosis, a diarrhea illness caused by Shigella bacteria, which is highly contagious.

"Unfortunately, this is something that is transmitted fecally orally. So, since kids aren't paying as much attention to hygiene sometimes, or parents who are taking care of kids who have a diarrhea illness, that can be a challenge," says Dr. Paul Schulz, Medical Director of Infection Prevention with Norton Healthcare.

Fast-forward to this week and now a JCPS spokesperson says the health department has asked all schools to send out a notice to students about an outbreak of Shigellosis in Jefferson County.

JCPS spokesperson, Lauren Roberts, says they are sending the letters out because they've been asked to, and not as a result of any particular case in the school.

The health department has averaged 62 cases a year of the illnesses for the last five years.

However, in the last 3 months, they say they've already seen 60 cases.

"Technically we would call this an epidemic and try to do things to reduce that spread, like putting out these kinds of notices so that parents, teachers and other folks in the community are more aware," says Dr. Paul Schulz.

The symptoms include blood in stools, fever, nausea, abdominal cramping and vomiting.

One of the ways they say you can prevent the spread of the disease is to wash your hands carefully, and often. They say it's especially important to wash your hands after changing diapers, using the restroom, after helping a child use the restroom, or before preparing or eating food.

Dr. Paul Schulz, with Norton Healthcare, also recommends not going to school or work if you have the illness to avoid spreading it to other people.

Going to the doctor is at the top of the list.

"Even if you don't feel like you're that ill, getting evaluated and diagnosed and treated can be a good thing for you and the community," says Dr. Paul Schulz.

There are antibiotics that doctors can prescribe to help you treat this illness.

The Health Department wants everyone to be aware, and take precautions.

There has been a noticeable spike in Shigella infections throughout Florida and Georgia (the First Coast). In Florida, for example, there were 1,213 reported Shigella infections in 2010. This year, there has been 2,218 cases. The reason for the spike is not currently known, although the Duval County Health Department is busy investigating.

Shigella belongs to a family of bacteria that can cause sudden and severe diarrhea in humans. Shigellosis, the illness caused by the ingestion of Shigella bacteria, is also known as bacillary dysentery. Shigella thrives in the human intestine and is commonly spread both through food and person-to-person contact. Shigella is the third most common pathogen transmitted through food.

Jacksonville NBC affiliate First Coast News reports:

Duval County health leaders say kids are very vulnerable to the infection. Seventy-four percent of cases here have been people between the 0-and-19 age range.

"It's harder to get kids to wash their hands properly and certainly the little kids like two to four year olds, you have to watch them wash their hands because they're still learning to wash their hands and so you just really have to encourage that good behavior," said Karen Elliott, surveillance epidemiologist with the Duval County Health Department.

Forty-five people in Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox communities in Williamsburg and Borough Park have been infected by shigella since August, according to city health officials.

Each year, New York City has between 300 and 400 cases of the disease, which frequently crops up in day care centers and other places where children congregate. The majority of those affected in this latest outbreak were also children.

No one has been hospitalized, city health department officials said.  The health department has asked doctors not to use antibiotics to treat shigella because drug-resistant strains of the bacteria may be starting to spread.

Shigella is a highly contagious and virulent bug that is commonly the culprit in outbreaks at schools and other institutional settings.  Shigella outbreaks are frequently caused by the fecal-oral route, whether the route of ultimate transmission be food or contact with surfaces contaminated by the bacteria.  This means that bacteria from the stool of an infected person is ingested by another person, leading to illness.

In any event, a large Shigella outbreak has occurred at Honea Path Elementary School in South Carolina.  Dozens of students have fallen ill in the past several weeks, causing the principal of Honea Path Elementary School to send a letter home to parents explaining what Shigella is and the importance of good handwashing. 

Officials with the State Department of Health and Environmental Control have assisted in the investigation of this outbreak, and have encouraged the school and staff, as well as parents, to recognize the ease by which Shigella can be transmitted person-to-person, and the resulting importance of good handwashing. 

Seventy people who say they became ill last year after eating at a Lombard Subway filed suit Monday against the restaurant chain.

The complaint filed in DuPage County accuses the Subway at 1009 E. Roosevelt Road of strict product liability, negligence and breach of warranty in connection with a food poisoning outbreak in late February 2010.

Health officials at the time said they confirmed more than 120 cases of shigella associated with the outbreak, which closed the restaurant for more than six weeks.

The lawsuit names plaintiffs in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake and Will counties, as well as Wisconsin. A Subway spokesman said Monday the company does not comment on pending legal matters.