Personal Injury and Wrongful Death

Effects

Information on the Effects of Shigella Poisoning
Pritzker | Olsen, P.A. , a leading law firm in the area of foodborne illness lawsuits, has provided the following information on the effects of Shigella. Lawyers at our firm have decades of collective experience and a record of success, including a record for the largest Shigella recovery in Minnesota history. 

Senior partner Fred Pritzker is currently lead lawyer for a major food poisoning lawsuit involving victims from several states. To learn more about Fred Pritzker, please see Food Poisoning: Lawyer and Attorney. 

If you or someone you love has been hospitalized after a Shigella infection or after any other food-borne illness, contact Pritzker | Olsen, P.A. for a free consultation regarding your legal rights and remedies. Call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900, e-mail info@pritzkerlaw.com, or fill in the online consultation form.

Effects of Shigella Poisoning

  • Increased risk for young children, pregnant women, the elderly and others with weakened immune systems
  • Seizures
  • Reiter's syndrome
  • Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome

For most people Shigellosis causes a flu-like illness that takes its course for about a week and then goes away on its own. However, if you or someone in your family has a Shigella infection, you may be at risk of more severe symptoms and complications. Young children, the elderly, and other people with weak immune systems--including cancer patients and people with AIDS--are at higher risk of severe illness.

Children less than two years old who have a severe Shigella infection accompanied by fever may experience seizures. If you have an infected infant that is having seizures, you should contact your physician immediately.

Shigella Poisoning and Reiter’s Syndrome
A very small percentage (about three percent) of Shigellosis cases that result from the presence of a particular type of Shigella, Shigella flexneri, develop Reiter's syndrome after the Shigella infection has passed. The condition, characterized by joint pain, irritation of the eyes, and painful urination, may last for months or years. Unfortunately, Reiter's syndrome can also lead to difficult-to-treat chronic arthritis.

Shigella Poisoning and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome
Although extremely rare, Shigella can also lead to a condition called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). HUS is most often associated with E. coli, but perhaps because Shigella is an organism similar to E. coli, a Shigella infection can also lead to the condition. The complications with HUS are severe and dangerous. Hemolytic anemia--a weakening the blood's effectiveness--and acute renal failure are the most serious complications of HUS.

Shigella Poisoning Fatalities
In rare cases, Shigellosis can lead to death. Some strains, rare in the U.S., may have a rate of fatality as high as fifteen percent. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Shigellosis accounts for less than 10 percent of the food-borne illness cases in the U.S. However, the USDA cautions that certain strains of Shigella may have a 10-15 percent fatality rate. Although the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) figures show only 18,000 cases of Shigellosis are reported in the U.S. each year, because many mild cases go unreported or undetected, the CDC estimates that as many as 350,000 may occur annually in the U.S.


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