Editing Dysentery (section)

==History==
Shigella evolved with the human expansion out of Africa 50,000 to 200,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pupo |first1=Gulietta M. |last2=Lan |first2=Ruiting |last3=Reeves |first3=Peter R. |date=2000-08-22 |title=Multiple independent origins of Shigella clones of<i>Escherichia coli</i>and convergent evolution of many of their characteristics |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=97 |issue=19 |pages=10567–10572 |doi=10.1073/pnas.180094797 |doi-access=free |pmid=10954745 |issn=0027-8424|pmc=27065 |bibcode=2000PNAS...9710567P }}</ref>

The seed, leaves, and bark of the [[Ceiba pentandra|kapok]] tree have been used in traditional medicines by indigenous peoples of the rainforest regions in the Americas, west-central Africa, and Southeast Asia in the treatment of this disease.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kapok Tree|url=http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/kapok.htm|work=Blue Planet and Biomoes|access-date=7 February 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222030907/http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/kapok.htm|archive-date=22 February 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Ceiba pentandra|url=http://www.zoo.org/page.aspx?pid=1954|work=Human Uses and Cultural Importance|access-date=7 February 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215181027/http://www.zoo.org/page.aspx?pid=1954|archive-date=15 February 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclocenter.com/Kapok-Emergent-24736.html|title=Kapok Emergent Tree Of Tropical Rain Forest Used To Treat Asthma Dysentery Fever Kidney Diseases|website=encyclocenter.com|access-date=27 April 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510224631/http://www.encyclocenter.com/Kapok-Emergent-24736.html|archive-date=10 May 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In 1915, Australian [[bacteriologist]] [[Fannie Eleanor Williams]] was serving as a medic in Greece with the [[First Australian Imperial Force|Australian Imperial Force]], receiving casualties directly from [[Gallipoli campaign|Gallipoli]]. In Gallipoli, dysentery was severely affecting soldiers and causing significant loss of manpower. Williams carried out [[serological]] investigations into dysentery, co-authoring several groundbreaking papers with Sir [[Charles James Martin (physiologist)|Charles Martin]], director of the [[Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine|Lister Institute]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Digital |first=Carter |title=Fannie Williams |url=https://discovery.wehi.edu.au/timeline/fannie-williams |access-date=2022-11-02 |website=Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research |language=en}}</ref> The result of their work into dysentery was increased demand for specific [[Diagnosis|diagnostics]] and curative sera.<ref>{{cite web |author=Kirsty Harris |title=Fannie Eleanor Williams: Bacteriologist and Serologist |url=http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/sti/pdfs/10_Harris.pdf |publisher=Seizing the Initiative: Australian Women Leaders in Politics, Workplaces and Communities. |access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref>

''[[Bacillus subtilis]]'' was marketed throughout America and Europe from 1946 as an immunostimulatory aid in the treatment of gut and urinary tract diseases such as rotavirus and ''Shigella'',<ref name="mazza">{{cite journal | vauthors = Mazza P | title = The use of Bacillus subtilis as an antidiarrhoeal microorganism | journal = Bollettino Chimico Farmaceutico | volume = 133 | issue = 1 | pages = 3–18 | date = January 1994 | pmid = 8166962 }}</ref> but declined in popularity after the introduction of consumer antibiotics.