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Shigella species cause about 500,000 intestinal illnesses each year in the U.S. Diarrhea, sometimes bloody, accompanied by fever and stomach cramps, is the hallmark of this infection. Azithromycin has been the standard therapy for Shigella resistant to other antimicrobials, but Shigella isolates with decreased susceptibility to azithromycin (DSA-Shigella) — i.e., those with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) >16 µg/mL — have been found in recent years.
Since 2011, the CDC has monitored DSA-Shigella by measuring the azithromycin MIC on every 20th isolate submitted, as well as outbreak-associated isolates. Now, researchers describe all known DSA-Shigella isolates (and resulting illnesses) in the U.S.
From 2002 through 2013, DSA-Shigella i…