Epidemiologic and Immunologic Studies of Shigella sonnei Dysentery

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Abstract
An epidemiologic and immunologic study of a S. sonnei dysentery outbreak in 1959 revealed the following: In all, 243 cases of S. sonnei infection were proved bacteriologically. The illness was mild, and only one fatality occurred. Multiple household infections occurred in 41 or 31% of the 130 families studied. The infection was inadvertently introduced into Surgical and Maternity Services. The infection was transmitted during delivery from one mother to her newborn infant. Determination of the antibody response of patients and family members by means of the hemagglutination test made possible the diagnosis of subclinical infection in 73% of subjects without diarrhea. A significant antibody response was demonstrated in approximately 60% of 63 subjects whose cultures were negative. The hemagglutination test proved to be more sensitive than the conventional agglutination test for determining the antibody response. The former yielded positive results in 75% and the latter in 43% of 74 subjects. Study of the antibody response of members of families made it possible to determine the sequence of infection.