Clinical-Epidemiological Features of 13 Cases of Melioidosis in Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this work was to catalog the clinical and ecoepidemiological characteristics of melioidosis in Brazil. The clinical-epidemiological features of melioidosis in Ceará are similar to those in other regions where the disease is endemic. These findings support the inclusion of this Brazilian state as part of the zone of endemicity for melioidosis.

“Melioidosis in Antioquia, Colombia: an emerging or endemic disease? A cases series”

“…18,32 Two cases have also been reported from Puerto Rico: severe melioidosis in a patient with chronic granulomatous disease and a case of the disorder described in a patient with diabetes. 18 Some cases have been reported from 33 Only one case has been reported in Argentina. 34 A few cases have been reported in Colombia, including two cases of non-bacteremic melioidosis.…”

PCR-based Methodologies Used to Detect and Differentiate theBurkholderia pseudomalleicomplex:B. pseudomallei,B. mallei, andB. thailandensis

“…The remaining three follow-up studies used the non-nested procedure to detect Bp/Bm, and reported accuracies of 100% (Couto et al, 2009;Brilhante et al, 2012;Nandagopal et al, 2012). Two non-nested follow-up studies tested the 16-23s rRNA ITS assays for their ability to detect Bp/Bm in clinical samples, and reported clinical accuracies approaching 100% (Couto et al, 2009;Nandagopal et al, 2012).…”

“…Melioidosis had a 39% mortality rate in Singapore in 1996 , a 19% mortality rate in Australia in 2000 (Currie et al, 2000), a 50% mortality rate in northern Thailand in 2003 (White, 2003), and by 2006, mortality rates were about 40% in northern Thailand (Limmathurotsakul et al, 2010). While melioidosis is beginning to be recognized as an infectious threat (hence a lower mortality rate in recent years), cases of melioidosis are still increasing in number in populated areas such as southern China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, southern India, and Brazil (John et al, 1996;Yang, 2000;Currie et al, 2008;Chen et al, 2010;Brilhante et al, 2012). Eighty percent of children in northern Thailand have developed antibodies against this microbe by the age of four (Kanaphun et al, 1993), however due to the intracellular nature of the infection, antibodies are ineffective.…”

A Review of Melioidosis Cases in the Americas

“…This cluster was reported among four siblings, of which three died, from a rural area of Ceará following contact with water after the rainy season. 41,42 …”

“…Brazil accounted for the majority (67%) of South American cases (Table 1), with the State of Ceará in northeast Brazil accounting for 91% of cases reported in Brazil. 23,41 Since 2003, there have been 25 cases of melioidosis, including one family cluster, reported in Brazil. This cluster was reported among four siblings, of which three died, from a rural area of Ceará following contact with water after the rainy season.…”