title: The persistence of Shigella flexneri in the United States: increasing role of adult males.
abstract: The annual reported isolation rate of Shigella flexneri decreased from 1964 to 1973, but has remained constant since then at 1 per 100,000. Between 1975 and 1985, the median age of males from whom S. flexneri was isolated rose from 5 to 26 years. During this time, the isolation rate of S. flexneri rose more than five-fold among men, did not change in adult women, and decreased in children. By 1985, 23 per cent of reported S. flexneri isolates came from men aged 20-49. Increased male homosexual transmission of S. flexneri is a possible explanation for these findings.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003710:Demography; D004405:Dysentery, Bacillary / Q000635:transmission; D005260:Female; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D012763:Shigella flexneri / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012764:Shigella sonnei / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population