Shigella, a bacterial infection that can cause bloody diarrhoea, is continuing to spread through sexual contact among some networks of gay and bisexual men in England, researchers have warned. UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) figures recorded 2,560 diagnoses in 2025, a rise of about 10 per cent on the previous year.
The infection is considered endemic in some communities, meaning it is regularly present within particular networks. Scientists are also concerned about antibiotic resistance, with testing in 2025 finding multidrug or extensively drug-resistant bacteria in 86 per cent of tested Shigella sonnei isolates and 94 per cent of tested Shigella flexneri isolates associated with presumed sexual transmission.
