[Shigella sonnei. An epidemic in a day-care institution]

Epidemics caused by dysentery bacteria among children and adults in day-institutions are rare in Denmark. The course of an epidemic of this type is reviewed. Thirty children and six adults went on holiday to a deserted farmer's cottage under primitive conditions in the southern Swedish woods. Immediately prior to this holiday, two of the adults had had serious gastrointestinal infections during a hiking trip in South America. Shigella sonnei was subsequently demonstrated in the stools from a total of 11 children but not in the adults. Three cases of intrafamilial infection occurred. Prior to commencement of the school year in late summer 1988, treatment of the asymptomatic bacterial carriers was carried out. Treatment such as this cannot be recommended as a rule and should, therefore, be discussed with the Medical Officer of Health when accumulated cases of Shigella sonnei dysentery occur.