Intercontinental dissemination of azithromycin-resistant shigellosis through sexual transmission: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Shigellosis is an acute, severe bacterial colitis that, in high-income countries, is typically associated with travel to high-risk regions (Africa, Asia, and Latin America). Since the 1970s, shigellosis has also been reported as a sexually transmitted infection in men who have sex with men (MSM), in whom transmission is an important component of shigellosis epidemiology in high-income nations. We aimed to use sophisticated subtyping and international sampling to determine factors driving shigellosis emergence in MSM linked to an outbreak in the UK. Methods: We did a large-scale, cross-sectional genomic epidemiological study of shigellosis cases collected from 29 countries between..