Shigella
শিগেলা (শিগেলা জীবাণুর সংক্রমণ)
Common Symptoms
⚠️ This symptom list is for educational purposes. Having these symptoms does not mean you have this condition. See a doctor for proper diagnosis.
Medicines Commonly Used
⚠️ These medicines are commonly used for confirmed diagnoses of this condition. This is NOT a recommendation or prescription. Treatment must be determined by your doctor.
No medicines have been linked to this condition yet.
Shigella is a bowel infection that can cause severe diarrhoea. The bacteria that cause it are also called shigella.
The bacteria are most often found in faeces (poo), and the infection usually spreads through contaminated food.
Anyone can get shigella, but it's most common in young children. It can also be passed on through sex.
Symptoms of shigella
Most people with shigella infection have mild symptoms, and these settle within a few days.
The symptoms of shigella include:
- watery diarrhoea, which in severe cases can contain blood, mucus or pus
- feeling sick or being sick
- abdominal pain
- a high temperature (fever) over 38°C (100.4°F)
- feeling down or depressed
Symptoms usually start 1 to 3 days after infection and can last up to 1 week.
Read more: Vomiting in adults · Stomach ache and abdominal pain · Fever in adults
See a doctor if:
Contact a doctor if:
- you have symptoms of shigella
- you have diarrhoea that contains blood
- you're worried about your symptoms
Contact a sexual health clinic if:
- you have symptoms of shigella and you think it was passed on during sex
How shigella is diagnosed
When you see your doctor, they'll ask about your symptoms and about any recent travel. Tell the doctor if you think you picked up the shigella infection through sex.
They may suggest further tests to confirm the infection. For this, a sample is sent to a lab to be analysed.
The 2 main ways of collecting the sample are:
- a stool (poo) sample
- a swab, where a small cotton bud is gently wiped over the area that might be infected, such as inside the anus
Shigella occurs more often in people living with HIV. If your shigella may have been passed on through sex, you should be offered an HIV test. If nobody has offered you one, you can:
- speak to your doctor about getting tested for HIV
Testing for HIV when you think your shigella was passed on through sex can help with early diagnosis and treatment, and with stopping the virus being passed on to others.
Read more: HIV
Treatment for shigella
Shigella infection usually clears up by itself, without any treatment. But if your symptoms are severe, or they carry on after 1 week, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics.
How shigella spreads
Shigella spreads from person to person when hygiene is poor. One common example is not washing your hands thoroughly after using the toilet.
In Scotland, most cases of shigella infection are passed on within families and in places where people are in close contact, like schools and nurseries. It's mostly caused by contaminated food, but it can also be passed on sexually.
Sex that may involve contact with faeces (poo) can pass on shigella. This includes:
- anal sex
- oral sex which involves licking the anus (rimming)
- fisting
- touching a condom or sex toy that's been used for anal sex
- having oral sex after anal sex
You could be at higher risk if you are a man who has sex with men.
Things to do
- Wash your hands regularly, especially before you prepare food and after you use the toilet.
- Wash your hands after sex, especially if you've touched someone's anus or handled used condoms or sex toys.
- Use condoms for anal sex.
- Use dental dams for rimming.
Things to avoid
- Don't prepare or serve food for others until your symptoms have stopped for 48 hours
- Don't use swimming pools, hot tubs or water parks until 48 hours after your symptoms have stopped
- Don't go to school, work or other group activities until 48 hours after your symptoms have stopped
- Don't drink tap water in countries with poor sanitation systems