Melioidosis symptoms explained amid CDC warnings about rare tropical diseases

In the United States, doctors have been asked to look for symptoms of melioidosis after two people die from a rare infectious disease.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed four cases of melioidosis, also known as Whitmore’s disease, in adults and children in four states: Kansas, Georgia, Texas and Minnesota.

Two of the patients have no underlying health problem. Diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease, thalassemia, cancer, and chronic lung disease can make people more susceptible to melioidosis.

The symptoms of melioidosis are varied and can vary depending on the type of infection.

This means that the disease can be easily confused with other more common illnesses, such as pneumonia, bronchitis or tuberculosis.

Symptoms of a localized melioidosis infection include localized pain and swelling, fever, ulcers, and abscesses.

A pulmonary melioidosis infection, on the other hand, can cause completely different symptoms, such as cough, chest pain, high fever, headache, and anorexia.

A blood infection from melioidosis can present with disorientation, headache, fever, joint pain, difficulty breathing, or abdominal pain.

Symptoms of disseminated melioidosis infection include fever, headache, weight loss, pain in the stomach, chest, muscles or joints, seizures, or infection of the brain or system. central nervous.

The bacteria responsible for melioidosis, Burkholderia pseudomallei, can take weeks to make an infected person sick.

Cases of melioidosis are rare in the United States, with the disease more common in Australia and Southeast Asia. Most cases of melioidosis in the United States tend to involve people who have recently visited these areas, but none of the four infected have traveled overseas.

Despite their geographic spread, genome sequencing suggests the cases may be linked by a common source, the CDC said.

Burkholderia pseudomallei is normally found in water or moist soil, but the CDC says the bacteria may have contaminated foods, drinks, medications, personal care or cleaning products.

However, of more than 100 samples taken from the products, soil and water and the surroundings of the four patients’ homes, none have yet tested positive for the bacteria.

People can get infected by inhaling it as dust or water droplets, ingesting it, or absorbing it through cuts on the skin.

The CDC says it’s “very rare” for people to contract the disease from another person.

Treatment of melioidosis usually begins with two to eight weeks of intravenous antimicrobial therapy, using either ceftazidime or meropenem.

This is usually followed by oral antimicrobial therapy for up to six months, using either trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole or co-amoxiclav.