RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Melioidosis in a patient from Bangladesh.
JF Postgraduate Medical Journal
JO Postgrad Med J
FD The Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine
SP 764
OP 766
DO 10.1136/pgmj.67.790.764
VO 67
IS 790
A1 Kibbler, C. C.
A1 Roberts, C. M.
A1 Ridgway, G. L.
A1 Spiro, S. G.
YR 1991
UL http://pmj.bmj.com/content/67/790/764.abstract
AB A 54 year old Bangladeshi man presented with a history and chest X-ray appearances suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis. Following deterioration 4 weeks later, he required ventilation. Although a blood culture isolate was subsequently found to be Pseudomonas pseudomallei, it was initially misidentified and dismissed as a contaminant. Further cultures demonstrated the organism, but the patient died, despite treatment with ceftazidime. The case illustrates the importance of taking a detailed travel history and having a high index of suspicion in patients from South East Asia and the Indian sub-continent, including Bangladesh, where the disease has not previously been considered endemic.