Stop shigella in its tracks

It’s not uncommon for people to bring back illnesses after travelling during the summer months. In fact, it’s estimated that up to 50% of travellers returning from journeys of two weeks or more will experience traveller’s diarrhoea, and the viruses or bacteria that are the cause of this are often easily spread.

With warmer weather on the horizon and the time for holidays abroad drawing near, there is one particular bacterium that people should be extra aware of: shigella.

What is shigella?

Simply put, shigella is a strain of bacteria that is responsible for the condition shigellosis – a nasty infection that causes diarrhoea, fever and excruciating stomach cramps. There are four different types of shigella bacteria, and these are thought to be responsible for over 160 million cases of shigellosis worldwide each year – 1.1 million of which turn out to be fatal. Of course, the majority of these fatalities occur in developing countries and, as death is usually caused by extreme dehydration resulting from diarrhoea, it is unlikely that the disease would prove to be fatal in cases in the UK.