![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/depressed-caucasian-young-man-sitting-144249410.jpg\")
Shigella infections can cause bloody and mucus-filled diarrhea. Kawee \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\nYou don\u2019t have to be a pioneer on the Oregon Trail to catch the bug that causes dysentery.<\/p>\n
Nowadays, the infection is spreading more through sex \u2014 and evolving into something that\u2019s \u201cclose to untreatable,\u201d one expert said.<\/p>\n
Shigella bacteria infect nearly half a million people in the US every year \u2014\u00a0causing diarrhea with blood or mucus (the hallmark of a dysentery infection), stomach pain, cramps, fever and vomiting.<\/p>\n
Scientists are learning more about why the disturbing disease is spreading so quickly, and why it\u2019s developing a resistance to treatment.<\/p>\n
Shigella infections can cause bloody and mucus-filled diarrhea. Kawee \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n
Spreading through sex<\/p>\n
Shigella is a nasty illness that causes more than uncomfortable doo-doos. It can become life-threatening by dehydrating and depleting bodily fluids including blood, causing bacterial and septic shock, neurological complications, and internal bleeding and infection.<\/p>\n
The bacteria spreads through infected poop that gets into the mouth because of ill-washed hands, or swallowing tainted food or water. A minuscule amount \u2014\u00a0as few as 10 organisms<\/a> \u2014 is enough to get you sick.<\/p>\n The population most likely to get infected are children under 5, who catch it at day care and schools from other kids who are just starting to learn about keeping themselves clean. Travelers to places where sanitation standards are lower, and people experiencing homelessness are also at higher risk.<\/p>\n But the population that\u2019s experiencing one of the fastest rises in shigella infection are gay and bisexual men, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM). Experts say shigella is \u201cendemic<\/a>\u201d to these communities, meaning it\u2019s constant and regularly present.<\/p>\n A study in July<\/a> showed that the spread of the disease through sex grew 15% faster year-over-year between 2015 and 2020 compared to spread through travel, food, or nursery outbreaks.<\/p>\n Emerging evidence suggests that sex may even be the major route of transmission now, but it\u2019s hard to tell when it\u2019s not asked about when patients show up for medical care.<\/p>\n Experts say many people don\u2019t realize Shigella can spread through sex \u2014 and that lack of awareness may be fueling infections.<\/p>\n \u201cMany men who have sex with men are unaware of the serious and increasing risk posed by sexually transmitted Shigella,\u201d said<\/a> Cambridge geneticist Kate Baker, a lead author on the July study.<\/p>\n Becoming a superbug<\/p>\n As shigella spreads rapidly, it\u2019s also becoming harder to manage. The CDC reports<\/a> that drug-resistant strains of the infection skyrocketed from 0% in 2011 to 8.5% in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cThis disease has gone from being relatively treatable with off-the-shelf drugs to being close to untreatable over the course of the last decade or so,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n Why is this happening? Some experts believe \u201cbystander resistance<\/a>\u201d might be at play. This happens when the wrong antibiotic is used for a pathogen, not only failing to kill the disease, but also accidentally giving the disease the opportunity to develop resistance to that antibiotic.<\/p>\n The CDC reports that most drug-resistant shigella cases affected adult men. The strains of shigella spread through sex are serious. Research<\/a> shows<\/a> that those who contracted shigella through sex were hospitalized for four to five days, on average.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/couple-feet-sheets-bed-home-144249397.jpg\")
Sex may be the primary way shigella is spreading today. Krakenimages.com \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n