Shigella sonnei bacteraemia occurring in a young man with shigellosis

A 34-year-old man presented with a 6-day history of diarrhoea, abdominal cramps and fever. Blood cultures were initially reported as positive for Escherichia coli using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. Contrast CT of the abdomen and pelvis revealed pancolitis and terminal ileal thickening. The patient was treated empirically with ampicillin, ciprofloxacin and metronidazole. Stool cultures were positive for Shigella sonnei. Subsequent testing on the initial blood culture correctly identified the organism as S. sonnei. On further questioning, the patient reported unprotected men who have sex with men (MSM) 3 months previously. His symptoms resolved during his 3-day admission, and he was discharged on 14 days of ciprofloxacin. He remains well. This case highlights that shigellosis is increasingly seen in MSM, with no history of travel, and may result in bacteraemia. This case also highlights the benefits (rapid identification of organisms) and limitations (inability to distinguish between E. coli and Shigella spp) of new technologies such as MALDI-TOF.