Molecular characterization of Shigella spp. isolates from a pediatric hospital in Southwestern Iran.

Aim: In This study focused on the detection of dominant clones and genetic relationship of Shigella spp. isolated from children with diarrhea in the main pediatric hospital in Ahvaz by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) technique.

Background: Shigellosis is considered as one of the problematic bacterial infections for public health in the world. Khuzestan province in the Southwestern part of Iran is a known endemic area for infections due to Shigella . There are limited molecular epidemiological data for Shigella spp. in this area.

Methods: A total of 50 Shigella spp. were isolated from January-June 2015 based on conventional microbiology and serology tests. The Sequence types (ST) of Shigella isolates which are characterized by Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC-PCR) were detected by MLST technique.

Results: Among 50 Shigella isolates, a total of 31(62%), 16(32%) and 3 (6%) of Shigella isolates were identified as S. flexneri , S.sonneii , and S.boydii , respectively. Two different sequence types (ST152 and ST245) were identified in Shigella isolates. ST152 was detected in S .sonnei and ST245 in S. flexneri and S. boydii isolates.

Conclusion: Based on MLST data, the stable and genetically linked Shigella clones are the cause of Shigella infections in children in Southwestern Iran.