Most of us who need to know about it either haven’t heard of it, know very little about it, or don’t know how it is caused, diagnosed, treated or prevented.
It’s typically caught from having sex with someone who is infectious by unintentionally ingesting faeces (poo), especially through rimming.
You can get it from having penetrative sex, fingering, fisting, or sharing sex toys as there might be small amounts of bacteria on your hands or things that end up in your mouth.
Shigella can be transmitted when handling condoms if bacteria travels from your hands to your mouth. It can also be caught from contaminated water and food when travelling abroad.