Shigellosis - epidemiological situation in Montenegro in period 1996-2005

Abstract

Introduction. Shigellosis is the most common cause of diarrhoea in the world. It is estimated to cause 165 million cases per a year, and two third of all diseases and most of the deaths are among children under 10 years of age. The aim of this descriptive epidemiologic study was to analyze the incidence of shigellosis in Montenegro during the period 1996-2005 and to find out which species of Shigella were dominant in this region. Material and methods. In the analysis of the data we used crude, age-specific and standardized incidence rates calculated by direct method using world population by Segi as standard. Results. During the study period the average participation of shigellosis among all cases of intestinal diseases expressed in percentage was 1.2%. The average standardized incidence rate for shigellosis was 7.18/100.000 in male population and 6.3/100.000 in female population. During the period 1996-2005 the number of Shigella cases decreased both in male and female population. Most of the cases were among children aged 0-14, and then in the age group 15-24 years. The most common species were S. sonnei (46.1%), then S. flexnery (25.4%), S. boydi (10.9%) and S. dysenteriae (3.6%). Disscusion. Today shigellosis is still a big health problem in most countries because of high mortality rate among children, the presence of multi-resistant species to antibiotics, easy transmission from one person to another and lack of preventive measures, especially vaccine. Conclusion. In order to decrease the incidence of shigellosis it is necessary to apply appropriate preventive measures as well as to improve vaccine against this disease.