According to health officials, four people in the United States have mysteriously become ill with a rare and sometimes deadly bacterial infection commonly found only in other countries with tropical climates. However, none of these patients had traveled abroad.
The four cases identified between March and July were reported to have occurred in Georgia, Kansas, Texas, and Minnesota. Statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).. Two of the patients died and two were hospitalized for a long time. The first death occurred in Kansas in March and the second death occurred in Georgia last month.
All patients were diagnosed with melioidosis, a disease caused by bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei.. Bacteria grow in tropical climates and are most commonly found in Southeast Asia and northern Australia. The only places in the United States where this bacterium is naturally found are Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. According to the CDC..
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According to the CDC, about 12 cases of melioidosis are confirmed each year in the United States, and these cases are most often found in people who have traveled to places where the disease naturally occurs. That is why, according to the statement, current incidents unrelated to the history of recent international travel are so rare.
Health officials are currently trying to figure out how these people were infected. They tested more than 100 samples from products, soil and water in and around the patient’s home, but nothing was known, the statement said.
Genetic testing revealed that the bacterial strains infecting these four patients were very similar to each other. The statement states that this suggests a common cause of infection. The CDC suspects that patients have been infected through imported products such as food, beverages, personal care products, and cleaning products.After people are exposed Burkholderia pseudomallei, It can take weeks to get sick, which can make it difficult for health authorities to determine the cause of the illness.
Melioidosis can cause a variety of symptoms. In current cases, symptoms ranged from coughing and shortness of breath to weakness, malaise, nausea, vomiting, intermittent fever, trunk, abdomen, and facial rash. Warning to doctors About the case.
Two of the patients had a condition known to increase the risk of infection Burkholderia pseudomallei, include Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) And cirrhosis (liver Illness), the CDC said. However, the other two patients had no known risk factors.
Among the infected are a 4-year-old child in Texas who became ill in May. According to the child, Lira Baker spent a month in the intensive care unit of the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. Dallas Morning News.. According to the Dallas Morning News, she needs to be ventilated and has brain damage.
“She’s a healthy and typical girl, and she’s about to start pre-kindergarten in the fall. Before, she had no underlying health problems. I don’t mean anything,” said her child’s aunt Ashley. Kenon told The Dallas Morning News. “So it was definitely a big surprise for those who didn’t know where they were. [the bacteria] According to the Dallas Morning News, Lira is currently being treated at a children’s home in Dallas. Dallas provides temporary care to children after hospitalization and before returning home.
The CDC pays attention to cases of melioidosis and warns doctors to consider this diagnosis even in patients who have never traveled outside the United States.
Originally published in Live Science.
