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CHRONIC OR LATENT MELIOIDOSIS
Author(s) -
Kingston C. W.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1971.tb92445.x
Subject(s) - debility , melioidosis , subclinical infection , medicine , disease , chronic disease , chronic infection , intensive care medicine , pediatrics , immunology , pathology , immune system , ophthalmology
An unusual case of melioidosis is presented in which the infection was probably acquired in New Guinea, characterized by a prolonged latent period (24 years), during which the patient suffered from chronic debility and hypersplenism without suppurative manifestations, culminating in an acute septi‐ cæmic attack which terminated in death in a little over two weeks. The disease is discussed briefly with emphasis on the chronic form, the probability of subclinical cases, and the occurrence of long periods of latency in at least two reported cases. The possibility of various forms of this very variable disease occurring in ex‐servicemen returning from Vietnam in the future is pointed out.