SHIGELLA OUTBREAK REPORTED

Two confirmed cases of shigella bacterial infection and as many as 12 suspected cases have been reported at a Cape Girardeau day care.

Shigella is a bacterial infection that affects the intestines, and according to a fact sheet from the Missouri Department of Health is a fairly common disease.

Symptoms may include diarrhea, abdominal cramping, fever, nausea and vomiting. The only way to diagnose shigella is through a stool sample.

Patty Turner, owner of Friends Forever Preschool, said she wanted other parents, day care providers and schools to know the bacteria is present so they could be on the look out for symptoms. For some children, dehydration can be quite serious.

Last week, Turner's daughter and another child attending the school got sick. A stool sample on the other child confirmed the shigella infection.

Since then as many as 12 children have had similar symptoms. Most were in the same class.

This week, officials with the Cape County Health Department have inspected the day care and notified parents. Turner also provided information sheets about the infection and talked with parents.

The Cape Girardeau Health Department also notified physicians and hospitals to be on the look out for the infection.

Sue Tippen, communicable disease coordinator with the Missouri Department of Health, said no new cases of the infection have been reported since Monday.

"We have not been able to determine how it happened," Tippen said. "We may never know how it happened."

The outbreak wasn't related to food poisoning or E. coli bacteria.

Bobbi J. Morris, a family nurse practitioner at Southeast Missouri State University's Department of Nursing, said shigella is similar to head lice, a cold or chicken pox. It is very contagious.

"We don't see it as often, so people become a little frightened," she said. Morris' daughter attends Friends Forever Preschool.

For most people, the disease runs its course in two to four days without any medical attention. Some people have the infection but never have any symptoms. Others, especially children, may get dehydrated or run a high fever from the infection. In some cases, antibiotics will shorten the duration of the illness.

A certain level of shigella is always present in a community. Proper hand washing, especially after using the toilet, after changing diapers, before preparing food and before eating, is a way to help prevent the spread of the disease.

Tippen added that lots of viral infections are going around with similar symptoms.