March 2005

2/5/05- There are now 8 confirmed cases of Shigella in Jackson County. Shigella is a highly-contagious intestinal illness. Jackson County health officials say since they announced the outbreak Thursday, their phones have been ringing off the hook.
They say some people are reporting Shigella-like symptoms, but many just want more information. Officials say they’re glad…

By Natalie Johnson
Jackson County is experiencing a Shigellosis Outbreak. So far there are seven confirmed cases, but more are predicted to surface. The Jackson County Health Department does not know where or who the outbreak stems from, as the cases are not in one isolated area.
Shigellosis is most commonly contracted through children because…

2/4/05- The Jackson County Health Department is investigating an outbreak of Shigella. More than half a dozen people in Jackson County have the highly contagious intestinal illness,prompting health officials to issue an alert.
The Jackson County Health Department announced there are 7 confirmed cases and other suspected cases of the intestinal illness in the county. As most may remember, Shigella recently made headlines in Ingham County after dozens of students there became ill. Jackson County Health Department officials tell us they’ve received some sporadic reports of intestinal illness over the past month, b ut noticed it was reaching outbreak proportions.Continue Reading Local Outbreak of Shigella

Staff to disinfect Lansing school after outbreak
By Susan Vela
Lansing State Journal
February 3, 2005
Resurrection School children were vomiting in the school’s hallways, gymnasium and offices Wednesday, causing Principal Diana Repichowski to cancel classes for the rest of the week.
About 60 of the school’s 151 kindergartners through eighth-graders were absent Wednesday morning. By noon, an additional 15 had been sent home.
“I don’t know if I’m well or sick after cleaning up after so many kids,” Repichowski said.
“The children were just violently ill. I’ve never seen this in my life.”Continue Reading Illness closes Resurrection School

1/31/2005
Don Finley
Express-News Medical Editor
At the child care center at San Antonio College, tiny hands are trained to rub and scrub with lots of lather at kid-sized sinks several times a day for the length of time it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song a couple of times ó about 15 seconds.
When they’re finished, the children dry their hands with a paper towel, then use that towel to shut off the water. After all, there are plenty of germs on the sink handles, too.
“It’s like all the routines that children learn in the first few years of life. They learn it through modeling and through the teachers helping them do it,” said Earlene Gonzales, lab center director at SAC’s Child Development Center. “It’s kind of a fun game at first when they’re learning it.”Continue Reading Better hygiene encouraged

By Judith R. Tackett, jtackett@nashvillecitypaper.com
January 13, 2005
Nashville City Paper
The Metro Public Health Department has issued a Communicable Disease Alert to physicians in Davidson County after observing an unusual increase in reported cases of Shigella.
Shigella is a bacterial infection that can cause vomiting, diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps. Symptoms, which last about a week, usually develop one or two days after exposure.
Usually one or two cases of Shigella are reported each month in Nashville, health officials said. However, nine cases were reported in October, 11 additional cases were reported in November, and 21 in December.Continue Reading Shigella cases on the rise in this area

The Banner
Dec 16, 2004
Jackson County-According to a press release from Jackson County Health Department, officials have alerted area residents about an outbreak of gastrointestinal ailment due to an organism identified as shigellosis.
The release said the department has received seven positive identifications of the shigella organism in persons who were associated with an…

12/14/2004
Associated Press
An outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness has sickened at least seven children at a southern Indiana day care center, Jackson County health officials said Tuesday.
County health officer Dr. Kenneth Bobb said the confirmed cases of shigellosis were in children age 3 to 8, but other confirmed and suspected cases were being investigated.
None of the cases of the illness, which is spread by oral contact with an infected person’s fecal material, are considered life-threatening, he said.
“The infection is easily passed from one person to another and is very serious in babies, older adults and people who are not well,” Bobb said.Continue Reading Gastrointestinal illness sickens seven children at Seymour daycare

By ANITA MILLER, News Editor
San Marcos Daily Record
Efforts to stem an increasing number of cases of the intestinal malady shigellosis in local public schools seem to have paid off, according to a county health official.
Kristy Phillips, coordinator for tuberculosis and communicable disease for the Hays County Personal Health Department, said new cases have trickled down to one or two a day, when at the peak of the outbreak there were “anywhere from five to 10” daily.
As of Thursday, Phillips said there have been a grand total of 206 cases of shigellosis, which is caused by the shigella bacteria which is spread by hand to mouth contact with fecal material.Continue Reading Worst may be over for area schools; 206 cases of intestinal malady reported

Dec 6, 2004
Named after the Japanese scientist Shiga who discovered it in 1897, Shigella is a type of bacteria that infects the intestinal tract. Four different groups of Shigella can affect humans, with some causing a mild illness and others a more severe one.
About 18,000 cases of Shigella infection are diagnosed each year in the United States, but many more go unreported because they involve only mild symptoms and sometimes no symptoms at all. The infection is most common during the summer months. Shigella rarely infects infants younger than 6 months old, but it is common in children 2 to 4 years old, especially those in child care.
Signs and Symptoms
Shigella can cause a spectrum of illnesses. Some people with a mild case have only loose watery stools, and a few may not have any symptoms at all. Others go on to develop a more severe disease known as dysentery, with abdominal cramps, high fever, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, which may contain mucus and blood. Some children with severe cases of Shigella infection may need to be hospitalized.Continue Reading Shigella Infections