Among gay and bisexual men, Shigella is usually passed on through the faecal-oral route during sex, either directly or via unwashed hands - only a tiny amount of bacteria can spread the infection. Shigella is a serious gut infection causing severe, prolonged diarrhoea and stomach cramps.
In the UK, ‘Shigella flexneri’ usually affects similar numbers of men and women and is linked with overseas travel, but 2013 data show an excess of more than 200 cases of the infection in men with no or unknown travel history, compared to women. A new campaign to warn gay and bisexual men about the risk of Shigella dysentery is being launched today by Public Health England ( PHE) in partnership with Terrence Higgins Trust ( THT), as new figures show a surge in cases likely to have been sexually-acquired over the past 12 months.
