Authors:

Abstract

Melioidosis is an emerging infection in Sri Lanka. Since the clinical presentation of melioidosis is not distinctive, a high index of clinical suspicion is required. Definitive diagnosis is usually made by isolation of the causative bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei, in culture. Although it is not a difficult bacterium to culture, initial identification of the isolate requires prior experience with B. pseudomallei. While preliminary identification can be performed in most microbiology laboratories confirmation of the isolate as B. pseudomallei requires access to a reference centre with resources to perform PCR testing and gene sequencing. A case report of a patient with acute onset of lung abscess with a positive sputum culture for B. pseudomallei is presented.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljid.v2i1.3795

Sri Lankan Journal of Infectious Diseases Vol.2(1) 2012: 47-51

Keywords: melioidosis, Sri Lanka, Burkholderia pseudomallei