Shiga toxin is a deadly bacteria which has killed more than 1 million people worldwide. Todar's Online Textbook of Bacteriology writes that the Shiga toxin, also called the verotoxin, is produced by Shigella dysenteriae and
enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), of which the strain O157:H7 has become the most well known. The syndromes which are associated with shiga toxin include dysentery, hemorrhagic colitis, and hemolytic uremic syndrome. The symptoms may include severe diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting, and bloody urine, in the case of hemolytic uremic syndrome. There is no known antidote for the toxin and so treatment is supportive and requires maintenance of fluid and electrolyte levels, and monitoring and support of kidney function.
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has reported on findings that manganese completely protects against Shiga toxicosis in animal models. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have discovered that an element commonly found in nature, manganese, might provide a way to neutralize the lethal effects of shiga toxin. New study results which have been published in the January 20 issue of Science by CMU biologists Adam Linstedt and Somshuvra Mukhopadhyay have shown that manganese completely protects against Shiga toxicosis in animal models. These findings could open up future research which is aimed at creating an inexpensive treatment for infections caused by bacteria that produce the lethal Shiga toxin.
At this time there is no specific treatment for such infections which afflict more than 150 million people each year. These infections are common in developing countries where they cause waterborne epidemics. Such infections have the potential to be particularly deadly, especially in children, causing dysentery and severe hemorrhagic diarrhea, which cannot be adequately treated in areas without access to clean water. Shiga toxicosis is most common during foodborne outbreaks in developed countries, such as the widespread E. coli outbreak this past summer in Germany and Western Europe, where more than 3,700 people were infected and 45 died.
