Shigella sonnei, an emerging multidrug-resistant sexually transmitted pathogen in Franche-Comté, France

ABSTRACT

Shigella sonnei (S. sonnei) is sometimes sexually transmitted. Men, who have sex with men (MSM), may have sexual behaviours different from heterosexual population, and thus may be at risk for S. sonnei infection. We describe three cases of multidrug-resistant S. sonnei in MSM (one HIV-infected patient and two patients receiving pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV). S. sonnei was isolated from stool specimens and all patients were successfully treated with parenteral third-generation cephalosporins following laboratory confirmation that the isolates were resistant to azithromycin. Two men (patients 2 and 3) were linked epidemiologically. These cases highlight the emergence of this pathogen and its association with some sexual behaviours among MSM in Franche-Comté, France.

KEYWORDS:

• Shigella sonnei
• sexually transmitted infections
• multidrug-resistant
• third-generation cephalosporins
• shigellosis

Acknowledgements

Author contributors

We thank all patients involved in the study. We especially thank Dr Sophie Lefèvre (CNR-ESS, Paris, France) for her help.

SZ collected the data and drafted the manuscript. TK, LT, PYR, AP, PG and VG revised the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).