Q Voice News and the Advocate Gay Magazine report that thanks to quick thinking activists and health advocates, outbreaks of drug resistant shigella are being targetted by the gay male community.
Dr. Carlton Thomas, a gastroenterologist and host of the “Butt Honestly” podcast, realised something was seriously amiss after engaging in oral sex within a dark room play area at a gay bar in Fort Lauderdale last year.
Upon returning home from his trip, the medic—known to his social media followers as Doctor Carlton—developed diarrhoea, dehydration, extreme exhaustion, and a soaring temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. As a gay gastrointestinal specialist, he immediately recognised that his symptoms pointed to one culprit: Shigella.
Shigella is a bacterial infection that is becoming more prevalent. It spreads through faecal matter, typically via contaminated water, unwashed hands, and certain sexual practices—particularly those involving contact between the mouth and anus.
Thomas recounts to The Advocate that he experienced bloody diarrhoea and ultimately required intravenous fluids before being treated with the antibiotic azithromycin. His symptoms abated within 24 hours, but the ordeal spurred him to increase public understanding of the infection and how to halt its transmission.
“I was very fortunate,” he says. “It felt as though I might die.”
Drug-Resistant Strain on the Rise
Shigella has emerged as the latest sexually transmitted infection to see a surge in recent years. Although the bacterium has been recognised since the 1890s and traditionally affected young children in nursery settings, a drug-resistant variant is now being reported more frequently, and the demographic most affected has changed.
A report published in April in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report indicates that resistant Shigella cases are increasingly documented among adult men who have sex with men.
While CDC data should be treated with caution given the current administration’s efforts to weaken the agency and its politicisation under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., LGBTQ+ medical professionals concur that the issue is genuine and disproportionately reported among queer men.
Dr. Demetre C. Daskalakis, chief medical officer at Callen-Lorde Community Health Centre and a former CDC chief vaccine officer, explains to The Advocate that higher reporting among queer men stems from several factors.
“We see elevated reporting among men who have sex with men largely because certain sexual networks include activities such as rimming, which can facilitate faecal-oral exposure,” Daskalakis says. “Men who have sex with men are also more likely to be tested for bacteria and parasites that cause diarrhoea and thus be counted among cases.”
As with many illnesses that have disproportionately affected queer communities, however, this data only tells part of the story.
“What is missing is under-diagnosis in other populations, a lack of routine testing, and stigma that prevents people from seeking care,” he continues. “Disease surveillance data often reflects access to and trust in healthcare, as well as the likelihood that medical providers will order the tests that identify Shigella.”
No Need for Panic, Experts Say
The rise in Shigella cases does not mean people must isolate themselves or abandon sex entirely. Rather than panicking over the infection’s spread or stigmatising those who have contracted it, healthcare practitioners such as Daskalakis and Thomas emphasise the importance of understanding how the bacterium transmits, getting tested, receiving treatment, and minimising onward transmission.
“We are in a vibrant era of PrEP and U=U, and now we even have DoxyPEP to reduce chlamydia and syphilis risk,” Thomas says. “People feel freer to have more sex, which is fantastic! That does come with certain risks, however.”
For a lowdown on Shigella and how it is spread, please visit https://qvoicenews.com/2026/05/21/new-strain-of-shigella-impacts-gay-men-heres-what-we-know/
https://podcastrepublic.net/podcast/1754857001 - is where you can find the Butt Honestly Podcast.
