CDC: Multi-Drug-Resistant Intestinal Bacteria Spreading
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Credit: James Gathany/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released a report on multi-drug-resistant intestinal illness that has been brought to the U.S. by international travelers.
The shigella sonnei bacteria, which is resistant to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, has sickened 243 people in 32 states in Puerto Rico between May 2014 and February 2015. Shigellosis can spread quickly in groups such as children in childcare facilities, homeless people, and gay and bisexual men, the CDC says. Ciprofloxacin is the first choice to treat the disease among adults.
“These outbreaks show a troubling trend in Shigella infections in the United States,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden. “Drug-resistant infections are harder to treat and because Shigella spreads so easily between people, the potential for more — and larger — outbreaks is a concern.”
Anna Bowen, a medical officer in the CDC’s Waterborne Diseases Prevention Branch, said in a statement that “washing your hands with soap and water is important for everyone.”
The CDC says that Shigella causes about 500,000 cases of diarrhea in the U.S. each year and is spread through contaminated food and recreational water.
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