Reactive arthritis associated with Shigella dysenteriae type 1 infection

Shigella dysenteriae type 1 causes the most severe form of bacillary dysentery. The spectrum of illness ranges from mild watery diarrhoea to severe bloody diarrhoea. Shigellosis is often associated with intestinal complications, including intestinal perforation, intestinal obstruction, toxic dilatation of the colon, and prolapse of the rectum; systemic complications include septicaemia, hyponatraemia, hypoglycaemia, seizure, encephalopathy, haemolytic-uraemic syndrome, and malnutrition. Arthritis and conjunctivitis are rare extra-intestinal complications of shigellosis. Annually, about 110,000 patients receive treatment in the Dhaka Hospital of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh for diarrhoea and diarrhoea-associated illnesses, of which 11% are due to shigellosis. However, arthritis associated with shigellosis has not been reported from this population. Arthritis has been reported in association with infection due to S. flexneri and S. sonnei from other places. We are unaware of any reported case of arthritis in association with S. dysenteriae type 1 infections. In this report, we describe the clinical and laboratory features of a young woman who developed arthritis following S. dysenteriae type 1 infection.