Shigella flexneri Sepsis in an Infant

Shigellosis continues to be an important public health problem in developed countries, since communication in the world village has become more frequent. In addition, this disease is difficult to be prevented because only a small number of bacteria are required to cause infection, and it has exhibited steady trends towards multiple drug resistance. This report describes a 7-month-old female infant with Shigella flexneri sepsis presenting initially with a high fever, watery diarrhea, and dehydration. She was successfully treated with ceftriaxone for 7 days. This case illustrates that Shigella should be included in the differential diagnosis of sepsis associated with diarrhea particularly in young infants traveling to or living in an endemic area. The choice of antimicrobial therapy and the optimal duration for treatment should be carefully evaluated because of the emergence of multidrug-resistant Shigella.