Severe Shigellosis Research Articles

Antimicrobial therapy and prophylaxis

Empirical antimicrobial therapy is indicated in patients with diarrhoea who have high fever and systemic toxicity, dysenteric disease, or travellers' diarrhoea. Antimicrobials are essential for those with severe shigellosis and amoebiasis. They are useful or possibly useful for other forms of diarrhoeal disease including amoebiasis (milder forms), campylobacteriosis, cholera, giardiasis, shigellosis, and diarrhoea due to a variety of other laboratory-defined bacterial enteropathogens. Furazolidone is useful in infantile giardiasis and mildly effective in other forms of bacterial diarrhoea. Trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole is effective against Shigella spp. in most parts of the world. Erythromycin is considered the treatment of choice for campylobacteriosis. For adults, the quinolone antimicrobials represent the most useful class of drugs for bacterial enteropathogens. Several dilemmas currently exist in the area. They include the lack of drugs for the therapy of trimethoprim-resistant shigellosis in children, overuse of antimicrobials in the developing world, and the potential for post-treatment prolongation of intestinal excretion of non-typhoid salmonellae. Antimicrobial chemoprophylaxis can be used in the rare person from an industrialized area during brief travels to a tropical region who has a serious underlying medical problem, cannot exercise care in what is eaten and drunk, and will have the purpose of the trip put at jeopardy should any illness develop (even that rendered short-term by effective therapy). For most people, therapy of illness is preferred to prophylaxis.

Comparative efficacy of two- and five-day courses of ceftriaxone for treatment of severe shigellosis in children

Administration of ceftriaxone for 5 days has been shown to be highly efficient in the treatment of severe shigellosis in children. Our study, involving 40 children, demonstrated that a 2-day course of ceftriaxone was as beneficial as a 5-day course and constituted effective therapy for children with severe shigellosis.

Ceftriaxone is superior to ampicillin in severe shigellosis in children

Ceftriaxone is superior to ampicillin in severe shigellosis in children

Comparative efficacy of ceftriaxone and ampicillin for treatment of severe shigellosis in children

In a prospective randomized open study, ceftriaxone, 50 mg/kg per day, was compared with ampicillin, 100 mg/kg per day, both given for a period of 5 days, for the treatment of 40 children whose mean (+/- SD) age was 4.5 +/- 3.2 years and who had severe dysentery caused by Shigella organisms. Twenty patients were treated with ceftriaxone and 20 with ampicillin. Both drugs were initially given intravenously for a period of 1 to 2 days and were continued intramuscularly, in the case of ceftriaxone, or orally, in the patients receiving ampicillin. All Shigella organisms isolated were susceptible to ceftriaxone; 28% were resistant to ampicillin. The diarrhea persisted for a mean (+/- SD) period of 2.5 +/- 1.0 days in the ceftriaxone-treated patients versus 6.8 +/- 6.3 days in the ampicillin-treated patients (p less than 0.005). At the end of the 5 days of therapy, stool cultures for Shigella organisms were negative in 12 (60%) of the 20 patients from the ampicillin group and in all the children (100%) from the ceftriaxone group (p less than 0.001). Bacteriologic relapses were observed in eight (40%) of the patients treated with ampicillin but in none of the children treated with ceftriaxone (p less than 0.001). In instances of clinical or bacteriologic failure in the ampicillin group, retreatment was instituted in most of the cases with ceftriaxone; persistent clearing of the Shigella organisms from the stool was finally achieved after a mean (+/- SD) period of 11.75 +/- 9.4 days after therapy was started, as compared with 1.85 +/- 0.6 days in the ceftriaxone-treated patients (p less than 0.001). We conclude that in children with severe shigellosis, treatment with ceftriaxone for 5 days is effective and better than use of ampicillin for clinical cure and eradication of the Shigella organisms from the stool.

Response to Antimicrobial Therapy for Shigellosis in Thailand

Shigella species have been one of the most common causes of acute diarrhea in Bangkok, Thailand. The incidence of shigellosis increased steadily from 1984 to 1988. The majority of Shigella species isolated from specimens from patients with acute diarrhea in Bangkok in 1988 were resistant to both ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMZ). Shigella flexneri was the most commonly isolated organism and had the highest rate of resistance to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, TMP-SMZ, and tetracycline. The antimicrobial agents of choice for the treatment of shigellosis have been changed from ampicillin to TMP-SMZ and recently to the fluoroquinolones. We conducted a controlled study of norfloxacin that revealed its efficacy for eradication of Shigella species from the stool of both adults and children. The fluoroquinolones shorten the course of diarrhea, reduce the shedding of the organism, and prevent the spread of infection. No short-term adverse effects of the quinolones were observed in this study; however, its use among children should be restricted to treatment of severe shigellosis and the duration of treatment should be as short as possible.

Therapy for Shigellosis. II. Randomized, Double-Blind Comparison of Ciprofloxacin and Ampicillin

Ciprofloxacin, 500 mg every 12 h, was compared with ampicillin, 500 mg every 6 h, both given for 5 days, in the treatment of 121 adult males hospitalized with severe shigellosis. Treatment was randomized and double-blinded. At the completion of treatment, there was resolution or marked improvement in symptoms in 57 (95%) of 60 ciprofloxacin-treated patients, 23 (88%) of 26 ampicillin-treated patients infected with an ampicillin-susceptible strain of Shigella, and 15 (43%) of 35 ampicillin-treated patients infected with an ampicillin-resistant strain of Shigella (ampicillin-R group) (P less than .01, ciprofloxacin or ampicillin groups vs. ampicillin-R group). Bacteriologic failure was less common (P less than .025) in the ciprofloxacin group (0/60) than in the ampicillin (3/26, 12%) or ampicillin-R groups (5/35, 14%). Ciprofloxacin-treated patients had a mean of 29 stools during the study, compared with 46 for ampicillin-treated patients (P = .004). Thus ciprofloxacin seems to be an effective, and perhaps superior, alternative to ampicillin in treating patients with shigellosis.

Epidemiology of bacterial pathogens associated with infectious diarrhea in Djibouti

During a survey examining the causes of diarrhea in the East African country of Djibouti, 140 bacterial pathogens were recovered from 209 diarrheal and 100 control stools. The following pathogens were isolated at comparable frequencies from both diarrheal and control stools: enteroadherent Escherichia coli (EAEC) (10.6 versus 13%), enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) (11 versus 10%), enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) (7.7 versus 12%), Salmonella spp. (2.9 versus 3%), and Campylobacter jejuni-C. coli (3.3 versus 5%). Surprisingly, the EAEC strains isolated did not correspond to well-recognized EPEC serogroups. No Yersinia spp., enteroinvasive E. coli, or enterohemorrhagic E. coli were isolated during the course of this study. Only the following two genera were recovered from diarrheal stools exclusively: Shigella spp. (7.7%) and Aeromonas hydrophila group organisms (3.3%). Shigella flexneri was the most common Shigella species isolated. Patients with Shigella species were of a higher average age than were controls (27 versus 13 years), while subjects with Campylobacter or Salmonella species belonged to younger age groups (2.6 and 1.6 years, respectively). Salmonella cases were more often in females. Shigella diarrhea was associated with fecal blood or mucus and leukocytes. ETEC was not associated with nausea or vomiting. Anorexia, weight loss, and fever were associated with the isolation of Salmonella and Aeromonas species. EAEC, ETEC, EPEC, and Shigella species were resistant to most drugs used for treating diarrhea in Africa, while the antibiotic most active against all bacteria tested was norfloxacin. We conclude that in Djibouti in 1989, Shigella and Aeromonas species must be considered as potential pathogens whenever they are isolated from diarrheal stools and that norfloxacin should be considered the drug of choice in adults for treating severe shigellosis and for diarrhea prophylaxis in travelers.

Breast feeding as a determinant of severity in shigellosis. Evidence for protection throughout the first three years of life in Bangladeshi children.

Little is known about the effect of breast feeding upon the severity of illness due to specific diarrheal pathogens. Using a systematically sampled and evaluated population of children aged less than 3 years, who attended a diarrheal disease hospital in Bangladesh, the authors performed a case-control study that assessed whether breast feeding reduces the severity of illness in shigellosis. From 540 children presenting with shigellosis between 1980-1982, they created a group of cases (n = 53) with severe illness and controls (n = 487) with non-severe illness. Overall, the odds ratio relating breast feeding to the severity of shigellosis (0.49, p = 0.01) suggested a substantial mitigating effect of breast feeding upon clinical severity. The high degree of protection against severe shigellosis was evident for breast-fed children up to 35 months of age, as well as for children at high risk for death because of severe malnutrition or measles. Because shigellosis continues to account for substantial morbidity and mortality in children in developing countries, the results support prolonged breast feeding in these settings.

Treatment of severe bacillary dysentery with trimethoprim alone

Trimethoprim (300 mg twice daily for five days) and co-trimoxazole (two tablets twice daily for five days) were compared as treatment for adult patients with severe shigellosis in Rwanda. Excellent bacteriological and clinical results were obtained with both regimens, with the exception of patients infected with a trimethoprim-resistant strain of Shigella dysenteriae type 1. Since only 20 patients were investigated, the conclusions of our study do not reach statistical significance. Before recommending trimethoprim as standard therapy for shigellosis, the validity of our results should be tested in a larger trial and the long-term ecological consequences of monotherapy carefully monitored.

Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole therapy for shigellosis

Twenty-eight infants and children hospitalized for severe shigellosis were treated orally either with ampicillin trihydrate (100 mg/kg/day administered in divided doses every six hours) or with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (trimethoprim, 10 mg; sulfamethoxazole, 50 mg/kg/day in divided doses every 12 hours) for five days. Four patients with ampicillin-resistant shigellae continued to have diarrhea and positive stool cultures during therapy. Patients with susceptible shigellae treated with ampicillin and all patients treated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole responsed promptly and comparably within an average of 1.6 and 1.7 days, respectively, until stool cultures were negative, and 3.1 and 2.9 days, respectively, until diarrhea stopped. Patients with ampicillin-resistant shigellae responded to treatment with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. It is concluded that trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is the best currently available drug for treatment of shigellosis in areas where multiple antibiotic resistance of shigellae is common.

Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Therapy For Shigellosis

Twenty-eight infants and children hospitalized for severe shigellosis were treated orally either with ampicillin trihydrate (100 mg/kg/day administered in divided doses every six hours) or with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (trimethoprim, 10 mg; sulfamethoxazole, 50 mg/kg/day in divided doses every 12 hours) for five days. Four patients with ampicillin-resistant shigellae continued to have diarrhea and positive stool cultures during therapy. Patients with susceptible shigellae treated with ampicillin and all patients treated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole responsed promptly and comparably within an average of 1.6 and 1.7 days, respectively, until stool cultures were negative, and 3.1 and 2.9 days, respectively, until diarrhea stopped. Patients with ampicillin-resistant shigellae responded to treatment with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. It is concluded that trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is the best currently available drug for treatment of shigellosis in areas where multiple antibiotic resistance of shigellae is common.

Ampicillin and shigellosis.

To the Editor. —In the October issue of theJournalwe reported a study of shigellosis in outpatients conducted in 1969 and 1970 demonstrating the bacteriological and clinical effectiveness of ampicillin. 1 This work confirmed previously reported observations of effectiveness made in hospitalized children with severe shigellosis. 2 Since the outpatient manuscript was submitted for publication (in March, 1972) increasing numbers of ampicillin-resistant shigellae have been isolated in our area. In addition the incidence of infection due to Shigella sonnei appears to be rising in our patients. Forty-three percent of 197 strains of shigellae isolated in 1971 from children on one of our pediatric services (Children's Medical Center) were S sonnei . From Jan 1 through October of 1972, 53% of 105 Shigella strains were S sonnei . In 1971 only 1% of S sonnei strains were resistant to ampicillin in vitro but this has risen to 25% in the first ten

Optimal dosage of ampicillin for shigellosis

Thirty infants and children hospitalized for severe shigellosis received oral ampicillin,50 mg. per kilogram per day, for 5 days. Bacteriologic observations and clinical responses were compared with those in patients who had received 100 mg. per kilogram per day of the drug. There were no statistically significant differences between the two dosage groups with respect to bacteriologic cure rates and clinical responses. Super-infection with Candida species occurred less commonly in patients who received the lower dosage. Daily observations on persistence of fever, diarrhea, and positive stool cultures were compared in 103 hospitalized patients who received either of the two dosage schedules of oral ampicillin, intramuscular ampicillin, or placebo. All 3 modes of ampicillin therapy are effective in treatment of shigellosis when the infecting organism is susceptible. Parenteral administration is attended with a significantly more rapid bacteriologic response and lysis of fever and is therefore recommended for the severely ill patient. For others, although there is a tendency to slower response than with 100 mg. per kilogram per day, the lower oral dosage of ampicillin is satisfactory.

Comparison of intramuscular and oral ampicillin therapy for shigellosis

Twenty-four patients with severe shigellosis were treated with intramuscular ampicillin, 100 mg. per kilogram per day in 4 divided doses for 5 days. They were compared with patients previously treated orally with the same dosage of ampicillin. Clearing of Shigellae from the stools was significantly more rapid with the intramuscular route of administration. Alterations in enteric flora were different in the 2 groups. Patients treated orally were more likely to have the intestinal flora replaced with Candida species in contrast with those treated parenterally who were more apt to have overgrowth with species of Klebsiella-Aerobacter. Though each mode of ampicillin administration is effective in the treatment of shigellosis, the intramuscular route results in a more prompt eradication of Shigellae and is useful in the treatment of patients who are not able to take medication orally.