Cases of melioidosis in a university teaching hospital in Malaysia

Melioidosis is an infectious disease caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei that is endemic in Southeast Asia and northern Australia and has also been reported from non-endemic areas of the world. Little is known about the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern and the demography of melioidosis patients...

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Main Author: Raja, N.S.
Format: Article
Published: 2008
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author Raja, N.S.
author_facet Raja, N.S.
author_sort Raja, N.S.
collection UM
description Melioidosis is an infectious disease caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei that is endemic in Southeast Asia and northern Australia and has also been reported from non-endemic areas of the world. Little is known about the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern and the demography of melioidosis patients in Malaysia. This was a retrospective study of 83 patients with culture-proven B. pseudomallei infections from the University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from May 1995 to June 2005. Antimicrobial susceptibility of B. pseudomallei, age, gender and race of patients, nature of specimen, serological evidence and monthly distribution of cases were evaluated. All isolates were susceptible to piperacillin and piperacillin-tazobactam. The majority of strains were susceptible to imipenem (99%), ceftazidime (94%), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (95%), ampicillin-sulbactam (94%), tetracycline (89%), chloramphenicol (94%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (70%), meropenem (88%) and ciprofloxacin (79%). Significant antimicrobial resistance was noted in aminoglycosides and ampicillin. The male-to-female ratio was 3.15:1, and mean age was 43.85 years. The majority of the patients were middle-aged (41-60 years). Malays and Indians made up 39% and 33% of affected patients, while Chinese and others comprised 25% and 3%, respectively. Of 83 patients, 67 were diagnosed by positive blood cultures, and 16 patients were non-bacteremic cases. There were 22 patients in whom B. pseudomallei grew in more than one clinical specimen, and there were 6 polymicrobial cases. Melioidosis is expanding in endemicity around the world. Control of the disease requires close monitoring, improved clinical laboratory standards and aggressive therapy.
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spelling um.eprints-17582011-07-15T08:57:27Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/1758/ Cases of melioidosis in a university teaching hospital in Malaysia Raja, N.S. R Medicine Melioidosis is an infectious disease caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei that is endemic in Southeast Asia and northern Australia and has also been reported from non-endemic areas of the world. Little is known about the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern and the demography of melioidosis patients in Malaysia. This was a retrospective study of 83 patients with culture-proven B. pseudomallei infections from the University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from May 1995 to June 2005. Antimicrobial susceptibility of B. pseudomallei, age, gender and race of patients, nature of specimen, serological evidence and monthly distribution of cases were evaluated. All isolates were susceptible to piperacillin and piperacillin-tazobactam. The majority of strains were susceptible to imipenem (99%), ceftazidime (94%), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (95%), ampicillin-sulbactam (94%), tetracycline (89%), chloramphenicol (94%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (70%), meropenem (88%) and ciprofloxacin (79%). Significant antimicrobial resistance was noted in aminoglycosides and ampicillin. The male-to-female ratio was 3.15:1, and mean age was 43.85 years. The majority of the patients were middle-aged (41-60 years). Malays and Indians made up 39% and 33% of affected patients, while Chinese and others comprised 25% and 3%, respectively. Of 83 patients, 67 were diagnosed by positive blood cultures, and 16 patients were non-bacteremic cases. There were 22 patients in whom B. pseudomallei grew in more than one clinical specimen, and there were 6 polymicrobial cases. Melioidosis is expanding in endemicity around the world. Control of the disease requires close monitoring, improved clinical laboratory standards and aggressive therapy. 2008 Article PeerReviewed Raja, N.S. (2008) Cases of melioidosis in a university teaching hospital in Malaysia. Journal of Microbiology, Immunology and Infection, 41 (2). pp. 174-179. http://myais.fsktm.um.edu.my/3362/
spellingShingle R Medicine
Raja, N.S.
Cases of melioidosis in a university teaching hospital in Malaysia
title Cases of melioidosis in a university teaching hospital in Malaysia
title_full Cases of melioidosis in a university teaching hospital in Malaysia
title_fullStr Cases of melioidosis in a university teaching hospital in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Cases of melioidosis in a university teaching hospital in Malaysia
title_short Cases of melioidosis in a university teaching hospital in Malaysia
title_sort cases of melioidosis in a university teaching hospital in malaysia
topic R Medicine
work_keys_str_mv AT rajans casesofmelioidosisinauniversityteachinghospitalinmalaysia