title: Recent trends in the epidemiology of shigellosis in Israel.
abstract: We provide an update on the epidemiology of shigellosis in Israel using data generated by a sentinel laboratory-based surveillance network for the period 1998-2012. The average annual incidence of culture-proven shigellosis was 97/100 000. We estimated that each case of shigellosis accounted for 25 cases in the community indicating the high burden of disease. Orthodox Jewish communities, living in highly crowded conditions and with a high number of children aged <5 years were the epicentre of country-wide biennial propagated epidemics of S. sonnei shigellosis. S. flexneri was the leading Shigella serogroup in Israeli Arabs. S. flexneri 2a and S. flexneri 6 alternated as the most common serotypes. Both S. sonnei and S. flexneri isolates showed high rates of resistance to ampicillin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and very low rates of resistance to quinolones and third-generation cephalosporins. Shigellosis due to S. sonnei conferred 81% (95% confidence interval 69-89) protection against the homologous Shigella serotype when epidemic exposure re-occurred 2 years later. These data are of value in the process of Shigella vaccine development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine,Tel Aviv University,Israel.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Israel Center for Disease Control, Ministry of Health, Tel Hashomer,Israel.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bassal
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine,Tel Aviv University,Israel.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goren
authors.affiliation: Central Laboratory, Meuhedet Health Services, Lod,Israel.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rouach
authors.affiliation: Central Laboratory, Maccabi Health Services, Rehovot,Israel.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Taran
authors.affiliation: Central Laboratory, Maccabi Health Services, Rehovot,Israel.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schemberg
authors.affiliation: Clinical Microbiology Laboratory,Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,Beer-Sheva,Israel.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Peled
authors.affiliation: Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Haemek Medical Center, Afula,Israel.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Keness
authors.affiliation: Haifa District Laboratory, Clalit Health Services, Haifa,Israel.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ken-Dror
authors.affiliation: Central Ministry of Health Laboratories, Jerusalem,Israel.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vasilev
authors.affiliation: Central Ministry of Health Laboratories, Jerusalem,Israel.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nissan
authors.affiliation: Central Ministry of Health Laboratories, Jerusalem,Israel.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Agmon
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine,Tel Aviv University,Israel.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shohat
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004405:Dysentery, Bacillary / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents