title: Fatal acute melioidosis in a tourist returning from Martinique Island, November 2010.
abstract: We report the fatal case of acute melioidosis in a patient returning from Martinique with fever in November 2010. Gram-negative rods were isolated from a blood culture and Burkholderia pseudomallei identified within 24 hours after first medical contact. The patient died two days after admission to hospital despite intravenous therapy with high doses of imipenem/cilastatin and intensive care. Clinicians seeing travellers returning from the subtropics or tropics with severe pneumonia or septicaemia should consider the possibility of acute melioidosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine and Primary Care, Geneva University Hospitals, University of Geneva, Switzerland. laurent.getaz@hcuge.ch
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gétaz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abbas
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Loutan
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schrenzel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iten
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Decosterd
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Studer
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sudre
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Merlani
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Emonet
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016957:Burkholderia pseudomallei / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D015378:Imipenem / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008395:Martinique; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008554:Melioidosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013557:Switzerland; D014195:Travel
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D015378:Imipenem