Melioidosis in an Italian Tourist Injured by the Tsunami in Thailand

Abstract

Recently, many alerts regarding infectious diseases emerging in the wake of the disastrous tsunami in Southeast Asia have been reported 1. In particular, increased awareness of melioidosis has been suggested and several related strains have been isolated from people who were injured in the natural disaster 2-5. Melioidosis is an infection caused by Burkholderia psudomallei that lives in the soil in the tropical north of Australia and Southeast Asia. In particular the disease is endemic in Northern Thailand because of the high concentration of bacteria in rice paddy surface water. The disease is usually acquired by inhalation or inoculation through skin lesions of the microorganism which is present in contaminated soil or water 6. Symptoms may appear within 2 days or only after several years and can include skin abscesses or ulcers, abscesses in internal organs, septicemia and pneumonia. Moreover, severe pneumonia or septicemia can sometimes be fatal even with treatment 7. Diabetes, chronic renal or lung disease and other severe underlying conditions constitute predisposition factors to melioidosis. We report a case of human melioidosis in a 72year-old Italian woman traveller who returned to Italy after being injured by the tsunami in Thailand. To our knowledge, this is the first case of this type occurring in Italy in a person without any underlying severe predisposing condition, and directly related to wounds caused by a tsunami. The patient was admitted to the Campo di Marte Hospital, Department of Infectious Diseases, Lucca, Journal of Chemotherapy Vol. 18 n. 4 (443-444) 2006