Antibiotic-Resistant Shigella Infections on the Rise

Clinical Takeaway

: The proportion of isolates with extensively drug-resistant Shigella increased from 0% to 8.5% within a decade.

Context

Extensively drug-resistant (XDR) shigellosis, a nationally reportable disease caused by a gram-negative bacterium (Shigella species), is spread by fecal-oral transmission and sexual contact. No currently FDA-approved oral antibiotics are effective against XDR Shigella. To better characterize XDR shigellosis in the United States, the CDC analyzed data from its molecular surveillance network for enteric pathogens for January 2011 to October 2023. About 17,000 isolates were studied.

Key Results

Overall, XDR Shigella was found in 3% of isolates, rising from 0% during 2011–2015 to 8.5% in 2023. Isolation was most frequently from stool.
The causative pathogen was more likely to be Shigella sonnei than S. flexneri (66% vs. 34% of cases).
Among …

Reviewing Author

Stephen G. Baum, M.D.

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardClinical Infectious Diseases

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