WHAT IS SHIGELLA INFECTION?

In December 2020, an emergency meetings was convened by Health officials in Kozhikode district after six cases of shigella infection and nearly two dozen suspected cases were detected within the Kozhikode urban corporation limits.

What is shigella infection?

Shigellosis, or shigella infection, is a contagious intestinal infection caused by a genus of bacteria known as shigella.

  • Person to person: The infection is known to spread person-to-person when the bacteria is swallowed accidentally.
  • Prime pathogens: The bacteria is one of the prime pathogens responsible for causing diarrhea, fluctuating between moderate and severe symptoms, especially in children in African and South Asian regions.
  • Epithelial lining: The bacteria attacks the epithelial lining of the colon resulting in inflammation of the cells and subsequently the destruction of the cells in severe cases.
  • Common symptoms: The common symptoms are diarrhea, stomach pain, fever, nausea and vomiting. There have been cases too where people don’t experience any signs of the bacterial infection.

(Source: Indian Express)

Written by 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *