Scientists from Cambridge University, in collaboration with the UK Health Security Agency, warn that unprotected sex may increase the risk of Shigella infection.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal states that shigellosis is a bacterial disease that causes severe diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever.
An analysis of 3,514 samples of Shigella bacteria, collected in the UK between 2004 and 2020, showed that sexually transmitted strains spread much more rapidly than other strains.
According to the researchers, these strains traveled an average distance of 117 kilometers over two and a half years, while non-sexually transmitted strains traveled only 46 kilometers. Furthermore, approximately 70 percent of the sexually transmitted strains were found to be resistant to at least one clinically significant antibiotic, compared to only about 40 percent of the other strains.
Shigella bacteria are usually transmitted through contaminated food or water, but some species, particularly Shigella sonnei and Shigella flexneri, can also be transmitted through sexual contact, especially through fecal-oral contact. The highest rates of infection are recorded among gay men.
Symptoms of infection include watery diarrhea, which may sometimes be accompanied by blood, mucus, or pus, as well as abdominal pain and cramps, nausea, vomiting, fever, and extreme weakness.
According to researchers, sexually transmitted shigellosis should be considered a serious public health threat. They point out that many people are unaware that this intestinal infection can be transmitted sexually, which complicates prevention efforts and contributes to its spread.
