Personal Injury Law

Shigella Strikes Sydney Gay Community-Health Officials Call For Precautions Now

Up to 200 people in Sydney, mostly gay men, are infected with an antibiotic-resistant gut infection, according health officials in Australia. It has been identified as an outbreak of shigella by health clinics in the largely gay Darlinghurst area.

According to the Sydney Star Observer,  CEO Stevie Clayton of the gay advocacy group ACON said the faeces-transmitted bacteria was very infectious so gay men should start taking some extra precautions now to limit the spread and duration of the outbreak.

“It’s going to be either basic hygiene — washing your hands after going to the toilet — or it’s going to be sexual transmission or it’s food handling,” she told Sydney Star Observer.

“It’s passed on very quickly and easily. Because symptoms appear between 12 hours and four days, it’s often hard to tell where someone got it from, and friends who’ve done the same activities could get infected at a different rate.”

For more on where they are finding shigella down under, go here.

Full post as published by Shigella Blog on October 28, 2008 (boomark / email).