GLANDERS AND MELIOIDOSIS

Course overview

GLANDERS AND MELIOIDOSIS ARE INFECTIOUS DISEASES CAUSED BY BURKHOLDERIA MALLEI AND BURKHOLDERIA PSEUDOMALLEI, RESPECTIVELY. GLANDERS HAS BEEN ELIMINATED FROM THE UNITED STATES BUT IS STILL PRESENT IN AFRICA, ASIA, THE MIDDLE EAST, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND SOUTH AMERICA. MELIOIDOSIS IS ENDEMIC TO SOUTHEAST ASIA AND NORTHERN AUSTRALIA BUT HAS ALSO OCCURRED IN SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AFRICA, AND THE MIDDLE EAST. IN HUMANS, THE FIRST SYMPTOM OF GLANDERS IS USUALLY FEVER, FOLLOWED BY PNEUMONIA, PUSTULES, AND ABSCESSES. THE ACUTE FORM OF THE DISEASE USUALLY IS FATAL WITHIN 7 TO 10 DAYS OF ONSET, THOUGH CHRONIC GLANDERS DOES OCCUR. THE INCUBATION PERIOD OF MELIOIDOSIS CAN BE HIGHLY VARIABLE, RANGING FROM 2 DAYS TO SEVERAL YEARS. SYMPTOMS OF ACUTE MELIOIDOSIS INCLUDE FEVER, COUGH, PLEURISY, ARTHRALGIA, MYALGIA, HEADACHE, ANOREXIA, AND NIGHT SWEATS. HOWEVER, MELIOIDOSIS CAN OCCUR ACUTELY OR CHRONICALLY, AND PRESENTATION IS HIGHLY VARIABLE, RANGING FROM LOCALIZED INFECTIONS TO ABSCESSES OF THE LIVER, SPLEEN, PROSTATE, OR PAROTID GLANDS TO SEPSIS. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT OF GLANDERS AND MELIOIDOSIS INFECTIONS AND HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN THE RECOGNITION AND MANAGEMENT OF THESE CONDITIONS.