title: [Epidemiologic investigation on sporadic occurrence of shigellosis in a subcounty of Cheongwon County in Chungbuk Province in 2003].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was undertaken to investigate the source of infection and mode of transmission of shigellosis, which occurred sporadically among residents and students in a subcounty of Cheongwon county, Chungbuk province, Korea, from June 4 to July 3 2003.
  
  
  METHODS
  692 subjects completed a questionnaire and provided a swab for microbiological examinations and 7 environmental specimens were examined for bacterial organisms. PFGE (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis) and fingerprinting were performed to find the genetic relationship among the temporally associated sporadic isolates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 29 patients had symptoms consistent with the case definition, with 13 confirmed and 16 suspected cases. The frequency of diarrhea was 6 times or more a day (80.8%), with a duration of 1 to 4 days (88.5%) in most cases. The most common symptoms accompanying the diarrhea were fever (80.9%) followed by abdominal pain (76.9%), headache (65.4%), chill (61.5%), vomiting (46.2%) and tenesmus (15.4%). The epidemic curve was characteristic of a person-to-person transmission. The PFGE and fingerprinting demonstrated identical or similar DNA patterns among the 3 Shigella sonnei isolates (A51, A53 and A61 types) found in this outbreak.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A genetically identical strain of S. sonnei was estimated to be the cause of this outbreak, and the mode of transmission was most likely person-to-person.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemic Intelligence Service, Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
authors.forename: Yong-Jae
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ue-Kyoung
authors.initials: UK
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Jong-Suk
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jun-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ja-Seol
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Koo
authors.forename: Bok-Kwon
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jong-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kang
mesh_terms: D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004405:Dysentery, Bacillary / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012760:Shigella; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires