Melioidosis: Thailand's unknown deadly disease

[webfact]

Melioidosis: Thailand's unknown deadly disease

by Luke Duggleby

 

Thailand's third most-deadly infectious disease kills 40 percent of those infected, but very few have ever heard of it.

 

Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand -  By the time Bunsri Mamak, 50, arrived at Sappasit Prasong Hospital in Ubon Ratchathani city in Thailand's northeast, he was delirious and a very sick man. He had spent several weeks visiting local clinics and hospitals trying to find out what was wrong with him when he first developed the symptoms - high fever and pain in his legs. The doctors he visited failed to diagnose his illness and provide the necessary treatment.

 

Ultimately, the district hospital advised him to visit the provincial hospital in the city, where he finally received a diagnosis - just in time to save his life.

 

He had spent 13 days in intensive care receiving intravenous antibiotics to treat the sepsis, the infection that had begun spreading through his blood. Afterwards, he was sent home to rest and complete a 20-week course of oral antibiotics.

 

Full story: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/07/melioidosis-thailand-unknown-deadly-disease-160719080325144.html

 

-- AL JAZEERA 2016-08-09

[ClutchClark]

This identical article was already started on one of the sub-forums and has a following if anyone is interested.

[Kwasaki]

Good to know these things cause we & family have farmland, prevention is always better than cure in some cases but a lapse in not doing something may let you down. 

 

When l was invincible   l never heard of Dengue fever until l got it and didn't realize how dangerous it could be just looking up meaning don't tell you much.  

[SOTIRIOS]

...a wonder that with the open sewers ...and flooding....that it is not much worse....

 

..sadly though....reading that it has been studied for 40 years.....they don't seem to be making inroads.....???

[hawker9000]

The full story on AJ is worth a read.  And if you're living a rural existence here, perhaps a MUST read.  'Some scary details in there.  I had never even heard of this.

[Dario]

ClutchClark: I tried to find the other thread, but couldn't find one.

Since my wife is an opoto (government employee) in the Isaan she has a moral obligation to attend evening prayers and funerals of people who die in our area. This way we very often attend such events. Lately there was a woman who we were told developed high fever and pain in one of her legs and she died within just 2 or 3 days after she had worked in a rice field without wearing rubber boots.  I remember that I was surprised that someone in her early 40s could die so quickly from working in a rice field.

Now, after reading the article in AlJazeera, I immediately made the connection. This was not the first time I heard something like this, I was told that people like her get infected by the urine of rats in the rice fields. Apparently, rats aren't the culprits, it is melioidosis.

It is amazing that this very deadly disease is known since 40 years and people here still don't know about it! As long as the Thai Ministry of Public Health doesn't take appropriate measures to inform all doctors and hospitals nationwide, many more lives will be lost.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Dario

[Dumbastheycome]

Meliodosis is an insidious  disease  that has been recognised  for more than  50 years. The difficulty in dealing with it is due to a  variety of factors.

It has a number  of variants.

It has no symptoms that  mark it specifically as an infection  that  initially differs from  many other  common bacterial infections .

The onset  of  symptoms  can be  rapid (and often then more likely to cause  rapid  mortality due to  incorrect treatment) or chronic illness that  debilitates victims  over a  long  period of  time with no recognition of the specific infection  by  medical services due to the need  for diagnostic culture tests which are  often limited in the capacity of medical services outside  of larger urban hospitals

Visitors  returning  from tropical regions  who have  been infected are  most often assumed to be suffering from the  more typical tropical infections resulting in  incorrect  diagnosis at least initially.

The  medical profession  has been/is relatively incognisant of the  increasing spread  and impact of this  disease.

Specifically significant to Thailand at this  time is that  research shows that after extended dry  periods followed  by high rainfall this  bacterium can be  acquired from soil , water, and the air !

Infection via water and soil can be avoided with the use of  protective  clothing especially  in the  presence of any  existing  wounds for those  who are  compelled  by occupation such as  farmers.

Protection  from an airbourne  source even with the use of  face  masks would best  be to avoid areas of  newly worked  soil especially after  rainfall.

Melioidosis  is  not an unknown Thailand disease.  It is a tropical disease that  most  commonly impacts the  lives of a social sector that historically are considered expendable.

 

http://www.melioidosis.info/about.aspx#

globally, the annual number of deaths from melioidosis—caused by the highly pathogenic bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei—is similar to measles and far greater than dengue infection.

 

A multinational research team mapped recorded melioidosis cases (human and animal) and environmental reports of B. pseudomallei—published between 1910 and 2014—to estimate that melioidosis is severely under-reported in the 45 countries where it has already been reported, and that it is also present in an additional 34 countries that have never reported a case. The authors estimate that there are 165,000 human melioidosis cases per year worldwide, of which 89,000 will be fatal. They suggest these results highlight the need for this disease to be given a higher priority by international health organizations and policy makers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dario]

Last night I got really alarmed. As I tried to gather more information about melioidosis, I came across that website Dumbastheycome mentioned. Under the section "For researchers" was a line called "How to prevent melioidosis." There are shown two posters. One of them reads "Don't get MELIOIDOSIS". When I read its contents I really got jitters: it says that melioidosis germs can be breathed in and people with diabetes are at a higher risk. I have diabetes since about 10 years. It says "Wear a mask when using a high pressure hose." Why am I writing this?

 

6 years ago I built a new home in the Isaan I had my concrete fence around our home tiled with these popular tiles, see picture attached. Since I had bushes and trees outside my wall on the street side, the tiles turned almost black from the rain. About 2 years ago I bought a high pressure washer but in fact, never opened the box. Since the abbot of our local temple bought about two weeks ago a high pressure washer to clean parts of the temple and was very pleased with the results, I suddenly remembered the existence of the washer I had bought. So, last Saturday I took it out and got to work. I cleaned the last part this week Monday late afternoon. I did not wear a mask! All the grout disappeared. That was the good part.

But now I'm scared because I didn't wear a mask. I wonder if I should go to Ubon to get tested by Dr Vipada Chaowagul.  I haven't developed any fever and don't feel any discomfort. What do you think? Should I go for a check?

 

 can 

Edited August 9, 2016 by Dario

[Dario]

Thanks God, I was able to speak to Dr. Vipada Chaowagul herself this morning. She is the person who probably knows most about melioidosis in Thailand. I have an appointment with her this coming Sunday morning. It might be a false alarm (I hope!) but prevention is better than dying, in this situation.

Edited August 10, 2016 by Dario

[Dario]

 

 

Here is a very informative video about melioidosis in Thailand. Scary information which everyone here should know.

Oops, it did not attach. I give the link.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2016 by Dario
embedded video did not attach