Drug-Resistant Stomach Bug On the Rise

A very unpleasant stomach illness is rapidly becoming resistant to antibacterial drugs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug resistant shigellosis, which is often associated with international travel, has infected 243 people from 32 states and Puerto Rico since May 2014. Symptoms include bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, and malaise. CDC Director Tom Frieden found the outbreaks “troubling,” adding that “drug-resistant infections are harder to treat and because shigellosis spreads so easily between people, the potential for more—and larger—outbreaks is a real concern.”