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There are 450,000 infections each year in the US including 240,000 cases that do not respond to regular treatment

Cases of the highly contagious and often drug-resistant bacterial disease, Shigella, are rising across the U.S., with dozens of doctors issuing warnings.

Shigella infections, known as shigellosis, can cause bloody diarrhea, dysentery, fever, vomiting, dehydration, stomach cramps, seizures, blood infections and in rare cases, death.

Experts have long been aware that drug-resistant strains of Shigella disproportionately cause severe illness in children under the age of 5. But doctors from health departments across the U.S. announced in April that white men are now the most susceptible to infections from drug resistant Shigella.

That findings could change the way hospitals respond to the pervasive illness, the doctors noted in a federal report.