Shigella Blog

Louisville-area Shigella illnesses continue to increase

marler@marlerclark.com (Shigella Attorney) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:57:46 -0800

Shigellosis cases continue to rise in Louisville, with 18 laboratory-confirmed cases last week.

That’s the highest number in any week so far during the current outbreak, which has seen 84 confirmed cases in 13 weeks.

Shigellosis is a highly-contagious diarrhea illness caused by Shigella bacteria. Symptoms include watery or loose stools for several days, and in severe cases abrupt onset of fever, nausea, abdominal cramping and vomiting.

For the past five years, Louisville has had an average of 62 confirmed cases annually.

To prevent the illness, health officials are urging people to wash their hands carefully with soap and water, including under the fingernails. This is especially important after handling items such as diapers, after each bowel movement, after helping children use the toilet and before preparing or eating food, health officials said.

Cleveland-area schools see increase in Shigella illnesses

marler@marlerclark.com (Shigella Attorney) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:09:17 -0800

Twenty-one cases of Shigella had been confirmed in eastern Cuyahoga County and western Lake County as of Jan. 20, and more cases were reported this week, according to officials of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health. Some cases have occurred in the Orthodox Jewish community.

"The Academy's health professional saw a handful of cases," Rabbi Simcha Dessler, dean of Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, said Jan. 23. "As with any health-related issues, we immediately contacted the Cuyahoga County Department of Health and continued to follow their lead. A letter and fact sheet with comprehensive information and prevention strategies were sent out to the parent body."

Amy Anter, program manager in epidemiology at the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, said the board had been in touch with Mendel Singer, Ph.D., associate professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, director of Jewish Community Health Initiative, and CJN blogger, to help convey information about the illness.

"Shigella does pop up in the Orthodox community from time to time," Singer said. "When there are lots of kids in diapers and not fully toilet-trained, there are opportunities for the illness to spread. It's extremely contagious, and it takes very little of it to cause infection.

"Hand washing with warm water and soap is the best defense," Singer said. Within the Orthodox community, soap (that requires lathering) and pre-moistened wipes (that often require tearing) become an issue on Shabbat. He recommends liquid soap as a substitute for bar soap and advises keeping soap available where ritual hand washing is taking place. If pre-moistened wipes aren't used when diaper changing, cleaning with "Shabbat-friendly" wipes is needed, he said.

Jefferson County, Kentucky schools bitten by the Shigella bug

marler@marlerclark.com (Shigella Attorney) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:53:04 -0800

WDRB reports that Jefferson County Kentucky schools are currently seeing a significant increase in Shigella illnesses:

In the last few months health officials say they've noticed the increase in Shigellosis.

A letter went out to all schools on Wednesday from the health department and will soon alert parents of the outbreak in Louisville.

On November 30th, a notice from Louisville Metro Public Health & Wellness said the health department had received reports of Shigellosis, a diarrhea illness caused by Shigella bacteria, which is highly contagious.

"Unfortunately, this is something that is transmitted fecally orally. So, since kids aren't paying as much attention to hygiene sometimes, or parents who are taking care of kids who have a diarrhea illness, that can be a challenge," says Dr. Paul Schulz, Medical Director of Infection Prevention with Norton Healthcare.

Fast-forward to this week and now a JCPS spokesperson says the health department has asked all schools to send out a notice to students about an outbreak of Shigellosis in Jefferson County.

JCPS spokesperson, Lauren Roberts, says they are sending the letters out because they've been asked to, and not as a result of any particular case in the school.

The health department has averaged 62 cases a year of the illnesses for the last five years.

However, in the last 3 months, they say they've already seen 60 cases.

"Technically we would call this an epidemic and try to do things to reduce that spread, like putting out these kinds of notices so that parents, teachers and other folks in the community are more aware," says Dr. Paul Schulz.

The symptoms include blood in stools, fever, nausea, abdominal cramping and vomiting.

One of the ways they say you can prevent the spread of the disease is to wash your hands carefully, and often. They say it's especially important to wash your hands after changing diapers, using the restroom, after helping a child use the restroom, or before preparing or eating food.

Dr. Paul Schulz, with Norton Healthcare, also recommends not going to school or work if you have the illness to avoid spreading it to other people.

Going to the doctor is at the top of the list.

"Even if you don't feel like you're that ill, getting evaluated and diagnosed and treated can be a good thing for you and the community," says Dr. Paul Schulz.

There are antibiotics that doctors can prescribe to help you treat this illness.

The Health Department wants everyone to be aware, and take precautions.

More school closures due to concerns about the spread of Shigella

marler@marlerclark.com (Shigella Attorney) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 04:55:28 -0800

Alabama's 13 reports that the local health department has notified the school board for Springville Elementary, Middle, and High Schools that at least 6 students have tested positive for shigella. There have also been 2 possible additional cases. This has resulted in the closure of the school on Monday, December 19, 2011. On Monday, the school plans to make an assessment of the facilities with the health department and school nurses to make sure the area is clean and safe for students. The plan is for school to reconvene on Tuesday.

Shigella illnesses spike throughout Georgia and Florida

marler@marlerclark.com (Shigella Attorney) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:54:05 -0800

There has been a noticeable spike in Shigella infections throughout Florida and Georgia (the First Coast). In Florida, for example, there were 1,213 reported Shigella infections in 2010. This year, there has been 2,218 cases. The reason for the spike is not currently known, although the Duval County Health Department is busy investigating.

Shigella belongs to a family of bacteria that can cause sudden and severe diarrhea in humans. Shigellosis, the illness caused by the ingestion of Shigella bacteria, is also known as bacillary dysentery. Shigella thrives in the human intestine and is commonly spread both through food and person-to-person contact. Shigella is the third most common pathogen transmitted through food.

Jacksonville NBC affiliate First Coast News reports:

Duval County health leaders say kids are very vulnerable to the infection. Seventy-four percent of cases here have been people between the 0-and-19 age range.

"It's harder to get kids to wash their hands properly and certainly the little kids like two to four year olds, you have to watch them wash their hands because they're still learning to wash their hands and so you just really have to encourage that good behavior," said Karen Elliott, surveillance epidemiologist with the Duval County Health Department.

6 county Shigella outbreak in Southwest Georgia

marler@marlerclark.com (Shigella Attorney) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 08:53:44 -0800

Originally reported as an outbreak only at Worth County public schools, the Southwest Health District has indicated that the Shigella outbreak has spread to 6 counties. Shigella is a highly contagious and infectious disease. Ingestion of fewer than 100 Shigella bacteria can cause food poisoning (American Public Health Association [APHA], 2000), making Shigella one of the most communicable and severe forms of the bacterial-induced diarrheas (Gomez et al., 2002).

Most Shigella infections are passed through the fecal-oral route. This happens when basic hygiene and handwashing habits are inadequate and can happen during certain types of sexual activity. Shigella outbreaks are particularly likely to occur among toddlers who are not fully toilet-trained. Family members and playmates of such children are at high risk of becoming infected.

Shigella is the third most common pathogen transmitted through food. In FoodNet surveillance areas in 2008, the rate of Shigella food poisoning was 6.6 per 100,000 population, exceeded only by Salmonella (15.2/100,000) and Campylobacter (12.7/100,000) (CDC, 2009c).

Shigella is also responsible for a substantial portion of foodborne outbreaks on cruise ships. In a review of cruise ship outbreaks worldwide over several years, 16% of outbreaks were attributed to Shigella, affecting over 2,000 passengers (Rooney et al., 2004). Sanitation violations related to food handling and communicable disease have decreased substantially over the past 15 years (Cramer et al., 2008).

Shigella Outbreak in Brooklyn's Ultra Orthodox Communities

marler@marlerclark.com (Shigella Attorney) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:03:08 -0800

Forty-five people in Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox communities in Williamsburg and Borough Park have been infected by shigella since August, according to city health officials.

Each year, New York City has between 300 and 400 cases of the disease, which frequently crops up in day care centers and other places where children congregate. The majority of those affected in this latest outbreak were also children.

No one has been hospitalized, city health department officials said. The health department has asked doctors not to use antibiotics to treat shigella because drug-resistant strains of the bacteria may be starting to spread.

Worth County Georgia Shigella Outbreak

marler@marlerclark.com (Shigella Attorney) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 16:38:59 -0800

Worth County Schools are closed Monday and Tuesday, after an outbreak of Shigella as infected students.

At least five students have tested positive for the intestinal bacteria, but the number of students who have it is likely much higher.

And it is not confined to schools, there has already been 260 possible cases in the community.

Now parents and students in Worth County are worried about being exposed to the bacteria.

The Shigella outbreak in Worth County has parents and students concerned about sanitary practices at school.

"Just keep them in the house away from other kids," says Eric Winstead, Concerned Parent.

"It is pretty scary for me since there is no cure for it, and it spreads really quickly, and it is really contagious so it scares me a lot," says Tori Smith, attends Worth County Elementary School.

"Both of my kids have pretty low immune systems, so I am always worried if they are going to come home and get it and spread it to anybody else, to us, my husband, to me," says Kyla Nelms, concerned parent.

Shigella is an intestinal bacteria, causing diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps.

Dozens of students sickened by Shigella at South Carolina elementary school

marler@marlerclark.com (Shigella Attorney) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:57:49 -0800

Shigella is a highly contagious and virulent bug that is commonly the culprit in outbreaks at schools and other institutional settings. Shigella outbreaks are frequently caused by the fecal-oral route, whether the route of ultimate transmission be food or contact with surfaces contaminated by the bacteria. This means that bacteria from the stool of an infected person is ingested by another person, leading to illness.

In any event, a large Shigella outbreak has occurred at Honea Path Elementary School in South Carolina. Dozens of students have fallen ill in the past several weeks, causing the principal of Honea Path Elementary School to send a letter home to parents explaining what Shigella is and the importance of good handwashing.

Officials with the State Department of Health and Environmental Control have assisted in the investigation of this outbreak, and have encouraged the school and staff, as well as parents, to recognize the ease by which Shigella can be transmitted person-to-person, and the resulting importance of good handwashing.

Shigella Lawsuit Filed Against Subway

marler@marlerclark.com (Shigella Attorney) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 09:05:59 -0800

Seventy people who say they became ill last year after eating at a Lombard Subway filed suit Monday against the restaurant chain.

The complaint filed in DuPage County accuses the Subway at 1009 E. Roosevelt Road of strict product liability, negligence and breach of warranty in connection with a food poisoning outbreak in late February 2010.

Health officials at the time said they confirmed more than 120 cases of shigella associated with the outbreak, which closed the restaurant for more than six weeks.

The lawsuit names plaintiffs in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake and Will counties, as well as Wisconsin.