Single-dose tetracycline therapy for shigellosis in adults

L. K. Pickering, H. L. DuPont and J. Olarte

Forty-two adults who had Shigella isolated from stool (26 symptomatic, 16 asymptomatic) received a single oral dose of tetracycline hydrochloride (2.5 g). Minimal inhibitory concentrations of the 42 isolates demonstrated that 41% were sensitive to tetracycline. Sixteen of 18 patients with diarrhea who had tetracycline-resistant Shigella and all eight patients with diarrhea who had tetracycline-sensitive Shigella were clinical well and had Shigella-negative stools 48 hours after therapy. Fifteen of 16 asymptomatic patients demonstrated clearing of Shigella from stool within 48 hours of therapy. Single-dose tetracycline therapy is effective in the treatment of Shigella regardless of clinical expression of illness or in vitro sensitive of the organism.