What is stool Shigella?

Shigellosis is an infectious disease, caused by the Shigella bacteria, that produces stomach pain, diarrhea and fever. Shigellosis is caused by coming into contact with stool or food that is infected with the bacteria. Treatment includes rest, fluids, and in severe cases, antibiotics to treat the infection.

Can Shigella be cultured?

Rectal swabs may also be used to culture shigellae if the specimen is processed rapidly or is deposited in a buffered glycerol saline holding solution. Some E coli biotypes of the normal intestinal flora closely resemble Shigella species (i.e. they are nonmotile, delayed lactose fermenters).

How do you test for the presence of shigellosis in a feces specimen?

To confirm the diagnosis of shigellosis, doctors take a sample of stool and send it to a laboratory to grow (culture) and identify the bacteria. Bacteria are also tested to see which antibiotics are effective (a process called susceptibility testing.

What is a Shigella infection?

Shigella bacteria cause an infection called shigellosis. Most people with Shigella infection have diarrhea (sometimes bloody), fever, and stomach cramps. Symptoms usually begin 1–2 days after infection and last 7 days. Most people recover without needing antibiotics.

Is Shigella part of normal flora?

Shigella, genus of rod-shaped bacteria in the family Enterobacteriaceae, species of which are normal inhabitants of the human intestinal tract and can cause dysentery, or shigellosis. Shigella are microbiologically characterized as gram-negative, non-spore-forming, nonmotile bacteria.

How does Shigella cause diarrhea?

Shigella is relatively resistant to acid in the stomach, and few organisms are required to cause the disease. Once ingested, it multiplies in the small intestine then enters the colon, where it produces shigella enterotoxins and serotype toxin 1, which cause watery or bloody diarrhea.

What is a positive stool culture?

Positive results mean bacteria, parasites, or other abnormal organisms were found in your stool culture. They may be causing your infection. Sometimes the test shows a false-negative result. This means the test missed certain infectious bacteria.

What foods cause Shigella?

Salads (potato, tuna, shrimp, macaroni, and chicken), raw vegetables, milk and dairy products, and poultry can carry Shigella bacteria. Water contaminated with human waste and unsanitary handling by food handlers are the most common causes of contamination in these food products.

What is the treatment for Shigella?

Antibiotics commonly used to treat Shigella are ampicillin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim, Septra), ceftriaxone (Rocephin), or ciprofloxacin. Precautions can prevent the spread of Shigella.