Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jan;203(1):45-58.
doi: 10.1007/s00203-020-02034-3. Epub 2020 Sep 14.

Shigella sonnei: virulence and antibiotic resistance

Ahtesham Ahmad Shad  1 , Wajahat Ahmed Shad  2
Affiliations
Review

Shigella sonnei: virulence and antibiotic resistance

Ahtesham Ahmad Shad et al. Arch Microbiol. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Shigella sonnei is the emerging pathogen globally, as it is the second common infectious species of shigellosis (bloody diarrhoea) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the leading one in developed world. The multifactorial processes and novel mechanisms have been identified in S. sonnei, that are collectively playing apart a substantial role in increasing its prevalence, while replacing the S. flexneri and other Gram-negative gut pathogens niche occupancy. Recently, studies suggest that due to improvement in sanitation S. sonnei has reduced cross-immunization from Plesiomonas shigelliodes (having same O-antigen as S. sonnei) and also found to outcompete the two major species of Enterobacteriaceae family (Shigella flexneri and Escherichia coli), due to encoding of type VI secretion system (T6SS). This review aimed to highlight S. sonnei as an emerging pathogen in the light of recent research with pondering aspects on its epidemiology, transmission, and pathogenic mechanisms. Additionally, this paper aimed to review S. sonnei disease pattern and related complications, symptoms, and laboratory diagnostic techniques. Furthermore, the available treatment reigns and antibiotic-resistance patterns of S. sonnei are also discussed, as the ciprofloxacin and fluoroquinolone-resistant S. sonnei has already intensified the global spread and burden of antimicrobial resistance. In last, prevention and controlling strategies are briefed to limit and tackle S. sonnei and possible future areas are also explored that needed more research to unravel the hidden mysteries surrounding S. sonnei.

Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance; Escherichia coli; LMICs; Shigella flexneri; Shigella sonnei; Virulence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic representation of S. sonnei virulence arsenal (Torraca et al. 2020). T3SS host cell invasion, IcsA actin based mortility, T6SS Bacterial competition and niche occupancy, g4c and O antigen resistance to phagocytosis, complement-mediated lysis and phogolysosomal degradtion. l-AltNAc 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-l-altruronic acid, d-FucNAc N-acetyl-2-acetamido-4-amino-2,4-dideoxy-d-fucose
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Ahmed AM, Furuta K, Shimomura K, Kasama Y, Shimamoto T. Genetic characterization of multidrug resistance in Shigella spp. from Japan. J Med Microbiol. 2006;55(12):1685–1691. doi: 10.1099/jmm.0.46725-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Al-Dahmoshi HOM, Al-Khafaji NSK, Al-Allak MH, Salman WK, Alabbasi AH. A review on shigellosis: pathogenesis and antibiotic resistance. Drug Invent Today. 2020;14:793–798.
    1. Anandan S, Sethuvel DPM, Gajendiren R, Verghese VP, Walia K, Veeraraghavan B. Molecular characterization of antimicrobial resistance in clinical Shigella isolates during 2014 and 2015: Trends in South India. Germs. 2017;7(3):115. doi: 10.18683/germs.2017.1116. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anderson M, Sansonetti PJ, Marteyn BS. Shigella diversity and changing landscape: insights for the twenty-first century. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2016;6:45. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anderson MC, Vonaesch P, Saffarian A, Marteyn BS, Sansonetti PJ. Shigella sonnei encodes a functional T6SS used for interbacterial competition and niche occupancy. Cell Host Microbe. 2017;21(6):769–776. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2017.05.004. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms