Letters to the Editor

astating epidemic of shigellosis with increased (35.6%) isola-tion of Shigella dysenteriae type 1 strains during 1984 (10). In the postepidemic period, shigellosis became endemic in Kolk-ata and S. flexneri (58%) was the most prevalent species, fol-lowed by S. sonnei (28%), S. boydii (9%), and S. dysenteriae (5%) (5, 7). In the year 2002, a sudden resurgence in the isolation of S. dysenteriae type 1 strain was noticed, with the occurrence of several dysentery outbreaks, which swept from northern to southern districts of West Bengal, including Kolk