Infectious colitis historical perspective

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Qasim Salau, M.B.B.S., FMCPaed [2]

In 1893, J. M. T. Finney described pseudomembranes in the colon of a 22 year old post operative patient. Shigella was first discovered by Dr. Kiyoshi Shiga following a bacillary dysentery outbreak in Japan in 1896. Several outbreaks have occurred since then.

• In 1893, J. M. T. Finney described presence of pseudomembranes in the colon of a 22 year old post operative patient.
• Shigella was first discovered by Dr. Kiyoshi Shiga following a bacillary dysentery outbreak in Japan in 1896. Several outbreaks have occurred since then.
• The first description of Campylobacter was by Theodore Escherich in 1886, when he reported a spiral shaped bacteria, found in the colon of children with “cholera infantum”.

The historical perspective of infectious colitis depends on the causative pathogen as follows:

• Shigella spp.
• Campylobacter jejuni
• Clostridium difficile
• Escherichia coli
• Nontyphoidal Salmonella
• Entameoba histolytica
• Chlamydia trachomatis
• Cytomegalovirus
• Yersinia enterocolitica

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