Incidence, clinical implications and impact on public health of infections with Shigella spp. and entero-invasive Escherichia coli (EIEC): results of a multicenter cross-sectional study in the Netherlands during 2016–2017

Abstract Background Shigella spp. and entero-invasive E. coli (EIEC) use the same invasive mechanism to cause diarrheal diseases. Public health regulations apply only to Shigella spp . infections, but are hampered by the lack of simple methods to distinguish them from EIEC. In the last decades, molecular methods for detecting Shigella spp . and EIEC were implemented in medical microbiological laboratories (MMLs) . However, shigellosis cases identified with molecular techniques alone are not notifiable in most countries. Our study investigates the impact of EIEC versus Shigella spp. infections... Mehr ...