HEALTH - SHIGELLOSIS
Shigellosis (pronounced-shih-guh-lo-sus) is an intestinal infection caused by Shigella (pronounced: shih-geh-luh) bacteria. The bacteria produce toxins that can attack the lining of the large intestine, causing swelling, ulcers on the intestinal wall, and bloody diarrhea. Symptoms can range from just watery diarrhea to bloody diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain. Shigella bacteria can contaminate food and water supplies, especially in areas where the sanitation is not adequate. However, most of the time the bacteria are spread when a person comes into contact with another person's stool (poop). That's one of the reasons why it's important to wash your hands after using the restroom. It takes as few as 10 of these bacteria to cause an infection. That means that Shigella bacteria can spread easily within families, schools, child-care centers, nursing homes, and other institutions. Shigellosis can affect people of any age, including teens. It's especially common in children ages 2 to 3 years old because they're often not toilet trained yet or they don't wash their hands after using the bathroom.
Symptoms
abdominal crampshigh fever
loss of appetite
nausea and vomiting
painful bowel movements
In very severe cases of shigellosis, a person may have convulsions (seizures), a stiff neck, a headache, extreme tiredness, and confusion. Shigellosis can also lead to dehydration and in rare cases, other complications, like kidney failure.
Treatment
The symptoms usually last 2 to 7 days. The goal of treatment is to replace fluids and electrolytes (salt and minerals) lost in diarrhea. Medications that stop diarrhea are generally not given because they may prolong the course of the disease. Self-care measures to avoid dehydration include drinking electrolyte solutions to replace the fluids lost by diarrhea. Several varieties of electrolyte solutions are now available over the counter. Antibiotics can help shorten the length of the illness and help prevent it from spreading to others in group living or day care situations. They may also be prescribed for patients with severe symptoms. Frequently used antibiotics include sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim (Bactrim), ampicillin, ciprofloxacin (Cipro), or azithromycin. Persons with diarrhea who cannot drink fluids by mouth because of nausea may need medical attention and fluids through a vein ( intravenously).This is especially common in small children.Persons who take diuretics ("water pills") may need to stop taking such medicines if they have acute shigella enteritis. Never stop taking any medicine without first talking to your health care provider.
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