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Bacillary dysentery | |
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Specialty | Infectious diseases |
Bacillary dysentery is a type of dysentery, and is a severe form of shigellosis. It is associated with species of bacteria from the family Enterobacteriaceae.[1] The term is usually restricted to Shigella infections.[2]
Shigellosis is caused by one of several types of Shigella bacteria.[3] Three species are associated with bacillary dysentery: Shigella sonnei, Shigella flexneri and Shigella dysenteriae.[4] A study in China indicated that Shigella flexneri 2a was the most common serotype.[5]
Salmonellosis caused by Salmonella enterica (serovar Typhimurium) has also been described as a cause of bacillary dysentery,[citation needed] though this definition is less common. It is sometimes listed as an explicit differential diagnosis of bacillary dysentery, as opposed to a cause.[6]
Bacillary dysentery should not be confused with diarrhea caused by other bacterial infections. One characteristic of bacillary dysentery is blood in stool,[7] which is the result of invasion of the mucosa by the pathogen.