By Julie Gomez
Doctors and school nurses across West Texas have a friendly suggestion for you: Wash your hands.
This is not just a routine reminder. An infectious disease known as shigellosis is causing concern across West Texas. There have been 71 confirmed cases in Lubbock since Sept. 1, according to a public health advisory issued by the city’s health department. Lubbock typically sees a few cases a month.
Martin Ortega, a family medicine physician at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, said shigellosis is a hand-to-mouth disease occurring in places with crowded conditions.
The infectious disease affects mostly children, especially between the ages of 5 and 8. Symptoms include diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps. The illness is spread through contaminated water and food or through contact with feces, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Image of Shigella bacteria. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“You can get shigellosis from using the bathroom and not washing your hands right and then handling food right after,” said Rennia Geers, immunization program manager of the Ector County Health Department.
Transmitted orally, the infection can stay in one’s stool for several weeks after the initial symptoms have gone. It is usually treated with antibiotics, but some recent cases across the country have been antibiotic-resistant.
Gino Solla, director of the Ector County Health Department, said 23 cases of the disease have been found in Ector County.
Information about such outbreaks typically spreads from local and state departments, said Brenda Hale, the school nurse at Fannin Elementary in Midland, Texas. In turn, she and her peers at other schools share the message with parents, students and community members.
“Hand washing alone can diminish or alleviate a larger portion of infection control,” Hale said.
Ortega said adults who are feeling sick and parents of children who have the symptoms of shigellosis should contact a physician.
He added: “Parents should use this as a teaching moment to show their kids why and how they should wash their hands.”
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