Definition of Pseudomonas pseudomallei
Pseudomonas pseudomallei: A bacteria that causes an
infectious illness called melioidosis or Whitmore's disease that is
most frequent in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia.
Pseudomonas pseudomallei is found in soil, rice paddies and
stagnant waters. Humans catch the disease by inhalation of
contaminated dust or when soil contaminated by the bacteria comes in
contact with abraded (scraped) skin.
Melioidosis most commonly involves the lungs where the infection
can form a cavity of pus (abscess). The bacteria can also spread from
the skin through the bloodstream the brain, eyes, heart, liver,
kidneys, and joints. The common symptoms of melioidosis are not
specific. They include headaches, fever, chills, cough, chest pain,
and loss of appetite. Melioidosis can also cause encephalitis (brain
inflammation) with seizures (convulsions).
The diagnosis is by a microscopic evaluation of a sputum (spit)
sample in the laboratory. A blood test may detect early acute cases
of melioidosis.
The treatment of melioidosis involves antibiotics and depends on
the location of the disease:
Mild illness: Antibiotics such as chloramphenicol, doxycycline,
sulfisoxazole, or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.
More severe illness: A combination of chloramphenicol,
doxycycline, and cotrimoxazole.
Very severe illness (as with persistent blood
infection): Intravenous antibiotics including
chloramphenicol.
If sputum cultures remain positive for
6 months: Surgical removal of the lung abscess with lobectomy is
considered. Antibiotic treatments may be necessary from 3 to 12
months.
Melioidosis can remain latent (in hiding) for years and emerge
when a person's resistance is low.
The name Whitmore's disease is after Major Alfred Whitmore (1876-
1946), an English surgeon in India.
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