A case of disseminated melioidosis in a migrant worker from Thailand

With globalization, foreign patients are frequently encountered at the clinical practice in Korea. As the number of migrant workers from Southeast Asia has been notably rising since the late 1990's, unfamiliar tropical infectious diseases that they bring out, may give great challenges to the ro...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Taehan Chindan Kŏmsa Ŭihakhoe chi 2009-04, Vol.29 (2), p.140-144
Main Authors: Lee, Hye-Min, Choi, Seong-Ho, Chung, Jin-Won, Ahn, Jihyun, Cho, Ah Ra, Lee, Mi Kyung, Chang, Kyu Jin
Format: Article
Language:Korean
Subjects:
Adult
Burkholderia pseudomallei
Drug Resistance, Multiple
Humans
Male
Melioidosis - diagnosis
Melioidosis - diagnostic imaging
Melioidosis - pathology
Thailand
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:With globalization, foreign patients are frequently encountered at the clinical practice in Korea. As the number of migrant workers from Southeast Asia has been notably rising since the late 1990's, unfamiliar tropical infectious diseases that they bring out, may give great challenges to the routine clinical practice in Korea. Melioidosis is a community-acquired infection caused by a gram-negative bacillus, Burkholderia pseudomallei. It has been endemic in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia, where B. pseudomallei is a soil saprophyte and invades the host through inoculation or inhalation. It frequently presents as an acute septicemia with a high mortality rate of 40%, mainly in patients with chronic underlying diseases, such as diabetes mellitus. Recently, we encountered a case of fatal disseminated melioidosis in a migrant worker from Thailand. We suggest an importance of melioidosis as a cause of community-acquired sepsis in migrant workers from Southeast Asia.
ISSN:1598-6535
DOI:10.3343/kjlm.2009.29.2.140