21 July 2023 , 19:00
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British holidaymakers have been warned over a potentially deadly stomach bug spreading in popular tourist hotspots.
The dangerous shigella sonnei infection is said to be breaking out in clusters which have become resistant to multiple drugs. Also know as shigellosis, experts have singled out tourist destinations in Spain, as well as Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Sixty people have fallen in across Spain - ahead of thousands of families heading to the country as schools break for summer holidays. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have recorded a total 300 cases of the highly contagious illness since April this year.
The main symptoms of the disease include fever, severe diarrhoea and stomach pain.
The ECDC said: "All strains in these seven clusters show resistance to first and second-line antibiotics".
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The bug can be spread through oral and anal sex, but it can also be spread from you to your close contacts if you don't practise good personal hygiene. You can also catch it from consuming contaminated food and drink.
Main symptoms of the disease include fever, severe diarrhoea and stomach pain (Getty Images)You can become infected if you:
- have poo on your hands and you touch your mouth
- put objects in your mouth that are contaminated with the infected poo
- consume food and water which is contaminated with the poo from an infected person
How to help prevent infection
Take the following steps to avoid passing the illness on to others:
- Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after going to the toilet. Read more about how to wash your hands.
- Stay away from work or school until you've been completely free from any symptoms for at least 48 hours.
- Help young children to wash their hands properly.
- Do not prepare food for others until you've been free of symptoms for at least 48 hours.
- Do not go swimming until you've been free of symptoms for at least 48 hours.
- Where possible, stay away from other people until your symptoms have stopped.
- Wash all dirty clothes, bedding and towels on the hottest cycle of your washing machine.
- Clean toilet seats and toilet bowls, flush handles, taps and sinks with detergent and hot water after use, followed by a household disinfectant.
- Avoid sexual contact until you've been free of symptoms for at least 48 hours.