Polymicrobial and recurrent bacteremia with Shigella in a patient with AIDS

Shigella gastroenteritis is uncommon among HIV seropositive patients and may be complicated in some patients by bacteremia; S. flexneri being the most frequently detected serogroup. While recurrent Salmonella bacteremia is common among HIV-seropositive patients, recurrent Shigella bacteremia is not. We report here an HIV-seropositive patient with Shigella gastroenteritis, polymicrobial bacteremia due to S. flexneri and S. boydii, and recurrent gastroenteritis and bacteremia with S. boydii. Relapsing infection with the same strain of S. boydii was determined using pulsed field gel electrophoresis. Thus, HIV-seropositive patients who develop Shigella infections may require prolonged treatment and/or suppressive therapy, similar to those infected with Salmonella. Patients who develop recurrent disease should be suspected as having polymicrobial bacteremia since the incidence of this may be underestimated among patients with AIDS, particularly those with concurrent gastroenteritis.