VA Disability Rating for Shigella Infections (DC 6334)

Diagnostic Code 6334 · 38 CFR §4.88b

What Is It?

Shigella infections cause bacillary dysentery — severe bloody diarrhea with abdominal pain, fever, and dehydration. Shigella is highly contagious and spreads rapidly in military units. The VA uses the General Rating Formula. Residuals including hemolytic-uremic syndrome and reactive arthritis are specifically noted and rated under appropriate body system codes.

Rating Criteria

Evidence Needed

Stool culture confirming Shigella species. Service medical records. Deployment records to areas with poor sanitation. Documentation of post-infectious complications. Nexus letter linking chronic conditions to the infection.

C&P Exam Tips

Describe severity and any hospitalization. Report chronic bowel symptoms. Mention joint symptoms developing after the GI illness. Bring deployment records. Have current GI evaluation results.

How to File

File under DC 6334 for the acute infection. File hemolytic-uremic syndrome and reactive arthritis as separate secondary claims. For veterans with a qualifying period of service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations, or in Afghanistan on or after September 19, 2001, 38 CFR 3.317(c) presumes service connection for Shigella infection that became manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within one year of separation from that service — on that route you do not have to prove an in-service event, only the qualifying service and the diagnosis. Outside that service or that window, the evidence this page describes is what carries the claim. The presumption carries a development duty with it: 38 CFR 3.317(d) lists both of those residuals as long-term health effects potentially associated with Shigella, and where a veteran presumed service connected under paragraph (c) is diagnosed with hemolytic-uremic syndrome within 1 month of the infection or reactive arthritis within 3 months, VA will request a medical opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not that the infection caused it.

Common Mistakes

Common mistakes include not recognizing hemolytic-uremic syndrome and reactive arthritis as shigella complications, failing to document the deployment GI illness connection, not obtaining a stool culture, and overlooking kidney damage.

Frequently Asked Questions

How common is shigella in military deployments?

Very common, especially in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia where contaminated water and poor field sanitation create ideal conditions for outbreaks.

What is reactive arthritis and how is it connected?

An autoimmune joint condition triggered by certain bacterial infections. Shigella is a classic trigger. It develops 1-4 weeks after the GI infection and can become chronic.