Paediatric neurological melioidosis: a rehabilitation case report.

Paediatric neurological melioidosis: a rehabilitation case report. Rural Remote Health. 2016 Jan-Mar;16(1):3702 Authors: White ME, Hunt J, Connell C, Langdon K Abstract CONTEXT: Melioidosis is a rare condition, endemic to northern Australia and south-east Asia, caused by an infection from the bacteria <i>Burkholderia pseudomallei</i>. The largest epidemiological review to date describes 540 cases of melioidosis seen at Darwin Hospital, in northern Australia, over a 20-year period. Of these, 14 (less than 3%) presented with neurological manifestation, with three deaths. Reports of paediatric cases of melioidosis are rarer. In a review of paediatric cases in northern Australia only eight cases were identified in 10 years. Three of these patients presented with neurological melioidosis, of whom two died in hospital. ISSUES: Whilst the literature refers to prolonged periods of hospitalisation for survivors, the trajectory of functional recovery and process of rehabilitation has not been described. This is a case report describing a 14-year-old boy who presented to a remote medical post with acute neurological symptoms (vomiting, severe headache, ataxia, cranial nerve VI and VII palsy) and was referred to the tertiary paediatric hospital in Perth, Western Australia. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging showed an extensive infiltrative lesion in the posterior fossa and hydrocephalus. Diagnosis of neurological melioidosis ...
Source: Rural and Remote Health - Category: Rural Health Tags: Rural Remote Health Source Type: research