Diarrhea caused by Shigella flexneri in patients with primary HIV infection.

Abstract

Acute bacterial diarrhea due to Shigella spp. infection is a common disease in low-income settings. In developed countries, these are usually cases of patients with recent travel history to tropical countries. In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase of cases of Shigella infection amongst men having sex with men in developed countries with no recent travel history. We present a report of two cases of patients hospitalized due to diarrhea of Shigella flexneri origin. During hospitalization, both of them were diagnosed also with primary HIV infection and one patient also had acute hepatitis A. The course of the disease was complicated in both cases and symptoms were severe. In both cases, Shigella was most likely transmitted through sexual contact. Shigella infection should also be considered as one of the sexually transmitted infections.