Outbreak of Shigella sonnei in a rural hotel in La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain
- Julia Alcoba Flórez 1
- Eduardo Pérez Roth
- Sandra González Linares 1
- Sebastián Méndez Álvarez 2
- 1 Nuestra Señora de Candelaria University Hospital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
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2
Universidad de La Laguna
info
ISSN: 1618-1905
Year of publication: 2005
Volume: 8
Issue: 2
Pages: 133-136
Type: Article
More publications in: International microbiology: official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology
Abstract
Shigella sonnei is a significant cause of gastroenteritis in both developing and industrialized countries. Knowledge of the diversity and antimicrobial susceptibility of the bacterium may be helpful in the management of both individual cases and outbreaks. This study was undertaken to evaluate the molecular epidemiology of an outbreak of diarrhea due to S. sonnei. The outbreak involved 14 of 28 (50%) tourists in a small rural hotel in La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain. All of the S. sonnei isolates recovered had the same antimicrobial susceptibility and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns, suggesting that the outbreak was produced by a single strain. [Int Microbiol 2005; 8(2):133-136]