The consequences of Shigella medically-attended diarrhoea and other leading pathogens among young children living in high-burden settings: a multi-country prospective cohort study

Background Shigella is a leading cause of diarrheal illness in children in low- and middle-income countries, with evidence of contribution to prolonged diarrhoea, hospitalization, and impaired growth. Methods In this prospective cohort study, we analysed data from 8756 children aged 6–35 months with acute (onset within the last seven days after at least two diarrhoea-free days) medically attended diarrhoea (defined as three or more abnormally loose or watery stools with or without blood in the previous 24 h) enrolled between June 2022–August 2024 from health facilities in Bangladesh (1341 children from 3 health facilities), Kenya (1390 children from 6 health facilities), Malawi (1325, 1), Mali (1341, 4), Pakistan (1365, 6), Peru (1058, 5), and The Gambia (937, 2). Eligible children…