A wave of gastroenteritis infections which are resistant to antibiotics is surging in Europe, new figures suggest.

A total of 203 cases of shigellosis, caused by the Shigella bacteria, have been reported to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in the three months since April.

That’s nearly as high as the total reported between November 2021 and February 2023.

The bug – which causes acute diarrhoea, fever, nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps – has been around for a while, with 95 British cases since 2021.

But infection numbers have picked up in recent months and the latest cases are ‘extensively’ resistant to drug treatments, health chiefs say.

The ECDC says all strains linked to these cases show resistance to first-line and second-line antibiotics, which are treatments doctors prefer to prescribe initially as they have lower risk of side effects.

Some strains can be still be treated with another common antibiotic, azithromycin.

But other strains are resistant to it, causing ‘particular concern’ to doctors as it ‘limits the options for effective treatment’, the ECDC added.

The European cases reported since April, which were mostly recorded by doctors over the past year, are limited to Belgium (26), Denmark (13), Germany (33), Ireland (50), the Netherlands (21), Spain (more than 60).

These recent cases are ‘largely, but not exclusively’ among men who have sex with men, according to the ECDC.

The Shigella bacteria is spread via human faeces, commonly through oral-anal sex as well but also non-sexual activities such as contact with hands and objects that have been in contact with faeces.

Health chiefs say the bug is ‘easily transmissible’ as only ‘extremely small’ traces of the bacteria are needed for contagion.

The ECDC is warning anyone with tummy bug symptoms to avoid sex, take extra care over personal hygiene and try to get tested for bacterial infections and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

People with symptoms should also ‘not handle or prepare food in catering establishments, and should avoid using public pools, spas and hot tubs’, the body added.

It also said men who have sex with men and who have caught the bug ‘should avoid sexual activity for at least seven days after symptoms have completely disappeared and oral-anal contact during sex for four to six weeks’.

Some Shigella infections can be severe – particularly in people with conditions affecting their immune systems.

Most cases last around five to seven days and clear up without the need for antibiotics.

Treatment will shorten the illness by one to two days and may reduce the likelihood of transmitting the bug.

Symptoms usually appear one to three days after exposure to the bacteria but can develop between 12 hours and a week after in some cases.

Cases have been detected across the world, with public health warnings issued in Australia and the USA, which has reported 106 cases since April.

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