Shigellosis: Mass Drug Therapy in an Institutional Setting

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Abstract
Attempts to control two shigellosis epidemics (Shigella sonnei type D) with mass drug therapy in an institutional setting are described. Mass treatment using furazolidone 50mg four times daily for 7 days in a hall of 72 residents, 7% of whom were symptomatic, resulted in abrupt and permanent termination of the epidemic. However, 3 attempts with mass therapy using chloramphenicol, furazolidone, and tetracycline in a hall of 46 girls did not seem to alter the course of a 110-day shigellosis epidemic involving 41 of the 46 girls. Furazolidone in dosages up to 100mg four times a day for 14 days was effective in eliminating Shigella organisms from the stool of 21 of 22 individuals. Mass therapy of an institutionalized population with proven shigellosis in a few individuals is worthwhile since it may control an epidemic. It has also been shown that for the organism involved in our cases furazolidone is effective in controlling the carrier state.