2004. Contemporary Clinical Epidemiology of Pediatric Shigella spp. Infections in Houston, TX, 2016-2021


 
 
 Infections due to Gram-negative pathogens that cause gastrointestinal illnesses are a significant cause of morbidity in children. The contemporary clinical and epidemiological features of pediatric Shigella spp. infections in urban cities in the United States are not well described.
 
 
 
 We used a retrospective cohort of patients (0-18 years of age) from a network of hospitals in Houston, TX. Only patients with Shigella spp. isolated from clinical samples dated from 2016 to 2021 were included in the study. Demographic, clinical, and microbiological data and susceptibility profile were extracted from the medical record.
 
 
 
 We identified a total of 73 pediatric patients with Shigella spp. Infections. The median age at presentation was 5 years. Hospital admission occurred in 32 % of infections with a median length of stay of 1 day (Table 1). Of cases with available clinical data, 80% of patients with Shigella spp. infections reported fever (Table 2). Of note, 62% of patients developed bloody diarrhea (Table 2). The majority of patients infected with Shigella flexneri (4/7) reported a history of international travel. Seizures were observed in 5 patients. No episodes of bacteremia were identified. Among patients with an identified exposure, daycare attendance and contact with individuals experiencing similar symptoms were the most common (Table 2). The majority of Shigella species were S. sonnei (90.4%) (Table 3). Resistance to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) was common (45/68, 66%) among Shigella spp. isolates tested. No resistance to third generation cephalosporins was observed. (Table 3). Although azithromycin was the most common antibiotic used for treatment, susceptibility testing for this antibiotic was not performed in any of the cases.
 
 
 
 Infections due to Shigella spp. are a significant burden among pediatric patients in a major metropolitan health care system (Houston, TX). Bloody diarrhea was the most common presentation, although the presence of Shiga-toxin-positive isolates was unknown. The observed high frequency of resistance to TMP-SMX and emergence of multi-drug resistant Shigella spp. in other countries warrants continued surveillance.
 
 
 
 Cesar A. Arias, MD, PhD, Entasis Phramceuticals: Grant/Research Support|MeMed Diagnostics: Grant/Research Support|Merck: Grant/Research Support.
