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Case Reports
. 2023 Aug 23;17(1):362.
doi: 10.1186/s13256-023-04093-8.

Emergence of melioidosis in Brazil: a case series

Dilbert Silva Velôso  1   2 , Samuel Pinheiro da Silva  1 , Conceição Maria Sousa de Coelho  1 , José Miguel Luz Parente  1 , Thaline Alves Elias Veloso  1 , Murilo Moura Lima  1 , Caroline Torres Sampaio  1 , Maria Fátima Alencar Bezerra de Freitas  1 , Dionne Bezerra Rolim  3 , Elba Regina Sampaio de Lemos  2 , Marco Aurélio Pereira Horta  4
Affiliations
Case Reports

Emergence of melioidosis in Brazil: a case series

Dilbert Silva Velôso et al. J Med Case Rep. .

Abstract

Background: Melioidosis is a serious disease caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei which affects humans and animals. It results in a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations, mainly in the respiratory tract, progressing to septic shock and death.

Case presentation: Herein, we present a series of seven patients (median age: 41 years) with confirmed melioidosis, treated at a public hospital in Piauí State, Brazil between 2019 and 2021. The most common clinical presentations were fever, cough, pneumonia, and abdominal pain. The mean duration of antibacterial therapy with 1 g of meropenem was 28.6 ± 1.1 days. Six patients recovered and one died. The mean hospitalization time was 51.0 ± 39.2 days.

Conclusions: Melioidosis is an emerging infectious disease in Brazil. Health professionals in endemic areas need to be aware of the clinical presentation and appropriate clinical management of the disease because early diagnosis and early initiation of antibiotic therapy can be life-saving.

Keywords: Brazil; Burkholderia pseudomallei; Melioidosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Left: Gram-negative bacilli of Burkholderia pseudomallei with characteristic hyperchromatic bipolar staining. Right: Burkholderia pseudomallei isolates on blood agar and MacConkey agar from liver abscess contents
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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