Korean Journal of Laboratory Medicine
Volume 29, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 140-144

A case of disseminated melioidosis in a migrant worker from Thailand [Korean Source] (Article) (Open Access)

Lee H.-M. , Choi S.-H. , Chung J.-W.* , Ahn J. , Cho A.R. , Lee M.K. , Chang K.J.
  • a Department of Internal Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
  • b Department of Internal Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
  • c Department of Internal Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
  • d Department of Internal Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
  • e Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
  • f Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
  • g Division of Epidemic Intelligence Service, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Seoul, South Korea

Abstract

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.

Author Keywords

Burkholderia pseudomallei Migrant worker Melioidosis

Index Keywords

male case report human Tomography, X-Ray Computed computer assisted tomography pathology Drug Resistance, Multiple Burkholderia pseudomallei Humans radiography Article Thailand multidrug resistance adult melioidosis
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-67249150011&doi=10.3343%2fkjlm.2009.29.2.140&partnerID=40&md5=1c58a5f98de3cadfde07da18a557334a
DOI: 10.3343/kjlm.2009.29.2.140
ISSN: 15986535
Cited by: 5
Original Language: Korean; English