Epidemiology of Shigella-associated diarrhea in Gorgan, north of Iran.
OBJECTIVE
Shigella is an important etiological agent for diarrhea and especially dysentery. Shigellosis is an intestinal infection that is a major public health problem in many developing countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of Shigella and its various species in diarrheal samples in Gorgan located in the north of Iran.


METHODS
Between January-December 2005, the epidemiology of Shigella- associated diarrhea was studied among 634 patients in Gorgan. The diarrheal samples accompanied with a questionnaire, which contained the demographic and main symptoms of the patients, were transported to the laboratory and inoculated in different culture media. Colonies suspected to be of Shigella were detected using differential biochemical tests and subsequently, the serotype of Shigella was defined using antisera.


RESULTS
Shigella was isolated from 56/634 diarrheal samples) (8.8%) of which S. sonnei was the predominant species (55%). Occurrence of Shigella was highest in the 2-5 years' age group (70.9%) and highest in summer (73.2%) with the most frequent clinical manifestation being abdominal pain (67.8%). The prevalence of Shigella in males and females was 8 and 9.8% respectively, but this difference was not statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
It has been shown that Shigella sonnei is the most common Shigella serogroup among 2-5 year-old children in Gorgan. It is therefore suggested that hygienic training be given to childcare attendants and the children themselves.
Department of Microbiology, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran. eghaemi@yahoo.com
Ezzat Ollah
EO
Ghaemi
Mohammad Mehdi
MM
Aslani
Abdol Vahab
AV
Moradi
Teena
T
Dadgar
Sedigh
S
Livani
Azad Reza
AR
Mansourian
Sepide Bakhshande
SB
Nosrat
Ali Reza
AR
Ahmadi