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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffInfection occurs when you accidentally swallow shigella bacteria. This can happen when you:
- Touch your mouth. If you don't wash your hands well after changing the diaper of a child who has shigella infection, you may become infected yourself. Direct person-to-person contact is the most common way the disease is spread.
- Eat contaminated food. Infected people who handle food can transmit the bacteria to people who eat the food. Food can also become contaminated if it grows in a field that contains sewage.
- Swallow contaminated water. Water may become contaminated either from sewage or from a person with shigella infection swimming in it.
References
- Goldman L, et al. Cecil Medicine. 24th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2012. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/191371208-2/0/1492/0.html#. Accessed May 4, 2012.
- Bowen A, et al. The Yellow Book 2012: CDC health information for international travel. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2012/chapter-3-infectious-diseases-related-to-travel/shigellosis.htm. Accessed May 3, 2012.
- Long SS, et al. Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Revised Reprint. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/linkTo?type=bookPage&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-7020-3468-8..50153-X--cesec14&isbn=978-0-7020-3468-8&uniqId=332491740-5. Accessed May 4, 2012.
- Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2012: 5 Books in 1. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2012. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?about=true&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05611-3..C2009-0-38601-8--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05611-3&uniqId=291436269-101. Accessed May 3, 2012.
- Shigellosis. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/shigellosis/. Accessed May 5, 2012.
- Kosek M, et al. Shigellosis update: Advancing antibiotic resistance, investment empowered vaccine development and green bananas. Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases. 2010;23:475.
- Initiative for vaccine research. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/vaccine_research/diseases/diarrhoeal/en/index6.html#. Accessed May 3, 2012.
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