Epidemiologic profile of shigellosis among Iranian military personnel: a retrospective study in the Army

Purpose: To assess the epidemiologic features of shigellosis in Iranian military personnel of the Army. Materials and Methods: The data was gathered from archived reports of Iran’s Army at AJA University of Medical Sciences. All military personnel with confirmed diagnosis of shigellosis reported by the Army physicians were included in the study. Data analysis was done by appropriate statistical functions using STATA software. Results: In a 7-year period (2005-2011) the total number of cases was 1710 from 25 provinces of Iran. A large difference was found out in the incidence rates of different provinces. 69% of all cases were from the five provinces of Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Sistan-Baluchistan, Bushehr and Guilan. Although the majority (55%) of the cases had occurred in spring, the association between season and incidence rate was not significant (P = .08). Among the three studied forces 45% of reported patients were from Navy. Conclusion: The overall occurrence of shigellosis has decreased among Iranian army personnel from 2005 to 2011, but the incidence is still high enough to be considered as a major problem. Army healthcare commanders are expected to improve necessary facilities, especially in the Navy and in endemic provinces, to decrease the transmission of this infection.