A growing number of Victorians have been diagnosed with an antibiotic-resistant strain of a sexually-transmitted bowel infection that causes gastro, forcing outgoing Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton to issue a health alert for the superbug.
The Department of Health advisory message on Tuesday afternoon warned shigella bacterial infections (shigellosis) resistant to typical treatment had grown, especially among men who had recent sexual contact with other men, and returned travellers.
Shigellosis – a type of gastroenteritis – is a highly contagious bowel infection that can cause diarrhoea, fever, nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps. It is mainly transmitted via the faecal-oral route.
The Victorian health advisory said local public health units were following up people diagnosed with resistant shigella infections and their contacts with advice about monitoring, testing and exclusion requirements.
“It is usually a self-limiting infection, however severe illness and complications can occur in certain at-risk individuals, such as young children, older people and those who are immunocompromised,” the health department messages reads.
“Practicing safer sex and handwashing can help prevent the spread of shigellosis.”
Victorians who have been diagnosed with the disease and who work in residential facilities or in the childcare, healthcare, food sectors have been told not to go to work until the department tells them it is safe to do so.
The health department message says symptoms usually arise one to three days following exposure, but can occur as late as one week afterwards in some cases.
Cases can remain infectious via faecal matter up to four weeks after symptoms cease, the department says.
Researchers at Melbourne’s Doherty Institute found a spike in cases of the drug-resistant gastro superbug in 2019.
Victoria’s chief health officer has issued health alerts for potentially poisonous poppy seeds, meningococcal disease, and a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in recent months.
The state’s floods in October 2022 also brought about outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases like Japanese and Murray River encephalitis in the past year.
A global mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) emergency also tested contact tracers last year after the COVID-19 pandemic dominated public health concerns from 2020.
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