"Antibiotics Are Useless"...UK on Alert Over 'Super Dysentery Bacteria' Spread Through Sexual Contact

"Strict Hygiene Before and After Sexual Activity Must Be Included in Prevention Guidelines"

In the United Kingdom, cases of bacterial dysentery transmitted through sexual intercourse are spreading rapidly, prompting health authorities to take emergency measures.

Shigella bacteria. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

On July 9 (local time), the Daily Mail and other British media reported that cases of bacterial dysentery spreading via sexual contact are increasing locally. Typically, dysentery is contracted by consuming food contaminated with Shigella bacteria or by touching objects contaminated with an infected person's feces. However, recent data show a rise in infections among men who have sex with men and bisexual men, specifically through contact with fecal matter during anal sex, resulting in Shigella infection.

Symptoms of dysentery include severe abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, high fever, and vomiting. Dysentery is known to cause such intense suffering that patients can be bedridden for over a week. In fact, one in three patients needs to be hospitalized for around five days, underscoring the severity of the disease. If not properly treated, it can lead to complications such as dehydration, intestinal perforation, or malnutrition. Globally, more than 200,000 people die each year from this illness.

The reason UK health authorities are on high alert is that the effectiveness of antibiotics used to eliminate this bacterium is steadily declining. The bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics.

According to a recent study published in the international journal "The Lancet Infectious Diseases" by researchers at the University of Cambridge, dysentery transmitted through sexual contact spreads more rapidly than cases acquired through other routes, and is also more resistant to antibiotics. Among patients with sexually transmitted dysentery, seven out of ten showed resistance to at least one of the main antibiotics used to treat the disease, such as ciprofloxacin or azithromycin. This is a much higher rate than among those infected through non-sexual transmission (40%) or travel-related variants (49%).

Kate Baker, Professor of Genetics at the University of Cambridge, stated, "We are now facing a situation where treatment with medication is virtually impossible," adding, "The conventional methods of focusing solely on handwashing and food hygiene management are insufficient to prevent dysentery spread through sexual activity." The Cambridge research team urged that sexually transmitted dysentery should be considered a distinct public health threat, separate from traditional dysentery, and that different monitoring, prevention, and treatment strategies should be implemented.

Hamish Mohammed, a doctor at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), emphasized, "It is important to maintain strict hygiene before and after sexual activity, and if you experience symptoms, you should get tested immediately." He advised people not to dismiss symptoms as simple food poisoning, but to consider whether recent sexual contact might be the cause. He also recommended that anyone diagnosed with dysentery should undergo comprehensive sexual health screening, as there is a high likelihood of co-exposure to other sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.