Evaluation of antigen-detecting and antibody-detecting diagnostic test combinations for diagnosing melioidosis.

Background: Melioidosis, an infectious disease caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, is endemic in many tropical developing countries and has a high mortality. Here we evaluated combinations of a lateral flow immunoassay (LFI) detecting B. pseudomallei capsular polysaccharide (CPS) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) detecting antibodies against hemolysin co-regulated protein (Hcp1) or O-polysaccharide (OPS) for diagnosing melioidosis.

Repeat blood culture positive for B. pseudomallei indicates an increased risk of death from melioidosis.

Melioidosis, a bacterial infection caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, is notoriously difficult to cure despite appropriate antimicrobial therapy and has a mortality rate of up to 40%. We demonstrate that a blood culture positive for B. pseudomallei taken at the end of the first and/or second week after hospitalization for melioidosis is a strong prognostic factor for death (adjusted odds ratio = 4.

Relationship of cerebrospinal fluid pressure, fungal burden and outcome in patients with cryptococcal meningitis undergoing serial lumbar punctures.

Objectives: To assess impact of serial lumbar punctures on association between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) opening pressure and prognosis in HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis; to explore time course and relationship of opening pressure with neurological findings, CSF fungal burden, immune response, and CD4 cell count.

Design: Evaluation of 163 HIV-positive ART-naive patients enrolled in three trials of amphotericin B-based therapy for cryptococcal meningitis in Thailand and South Africa.

Methods: Study protocols required four lumbar punctures with measurements of opening pressure over the first 2 weeks of treatment and additional lumbar punctures if opening pressure raised.

Rheumatological manifestations in patients with melioidosis.

Melioidosis, an infection caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, has a wide range of clinical manifestations. Here, we describe rheumatological melioidosis (involving one or more of joint, bone or muscle), and compare features and outcome with patients without rheumatological involvement. A retrospective study of patients with culture-confirmed melioidosis admitted to Sappasithiprasong Hospital, Ubon Ratchathani during 2002 and 2005 identified 679 patients with melioidosis, of whom 98 (14.