GPs are being urged to order stool culture and antibiotic susceptibility testing when investigating suspected shigellosis amid a rise in multidrug-resistant cases. 

A health warning this week from the Victorian Department of Health also stresses antibiotic treatment should be reserved for severe infections and priority cases.

These include people who are immunocompromised and young children, as well as those working in healthcare, aged care, childcare or food handling, where there is a risk of onward spread to at-risk individuals. 

The alert said there had been an increase in cases infected with strains of shigella bacteria that were either multi- or extensively drug resistant to antibiotics, including penicillin, cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, tetracycline and azithromycin.