Shigella bacteraemia in adults

Shigella infections are usually restricted to the intestine. There are few reports of Shigella isolated from the blood and most of these are from children, usually in neonates and the malnourished. In the small number of adult cases of Shigella bacteraemia which have been reported, there appears to be an association with underlying disease and immunosuppression including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. We report three adult cases in which Shigella were isolated from blood. Two of these patients made an uneventful recovery whilst the third died. An underlying cause of immunosuppression was suspected in this patient but unproven.