American journal of preventive medicine
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Community-wide outbreaks of shigellosis are a persistent public health problem. We evaluated the effect of a household-based intervention program on the control of an urban outbreak of S. sonnei gastroenteritis. During the intervention we attempted to contact all households with culture-confirmed S. sonnei and provide education in methods to prevent spread of Shigella. ⋯ Two months after the outbreak ended, 42% of children in the outbreak community had elevated antibody titers against S. sonnei; an additional 19% had borderline elevated titers. The intervention program improved knowledge but may have occurred too late to prevent intrahousehold transmission of Shigella. Exhaustion of susceptible hosts, rather than the education program, likely accounted for the decline in shigellosis cases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)