Death in shigellosis: incidence and risk factors in hospitalized patients

The total number of admissions and deaths of patients with shigellosis were ascertained at the Dhaka Treatment Centre of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, 1974-1988, and the characteristics of 67 patients who died were compared with those of 134 discharged alive. Of 9780 Shigella-infected inpatients, 889 (9.1%) died; 32.3% of deaths occurred in children less than 1 year of age. Fatality rates were highest (10.3%) in Shigella sonnei-infected patients and lowest (6.7%) in Shigella dysenteriae type 1-infected patients. Age less than 1 year, lack of breast feeding in patients 1-2 years of age, hypothermia, severe malnutrition, severe dehydration, altered consciousness, abdominal distension, thrombocytopenia, hypoproteinemia, hyponatremia, hypoglycemia, renal failure, and bacteremia were all significantly more common in case patients. In a multivariate analysis, younger age, decreased serum protein, altered consciousness, and thrombocytopenia were predictive of death. Thus in Bangladesh the fatality rate for hospitalized patients infected with any species of Shigella remains high despite relatively intensive inpatient care, and young, hypoproteinemic patients are at greatest risk of fatal illness.