India Study Finds Melioidosis in 262 of 2,953 High-Risk Hospital Patients

Melioidosis Latest News

A study published in The Lancet Global Health, assessed high-risk hospitalised adults at 15 Indian tertiary-care centres between 2023 -2025 and confirmed melioidosis was found in 262 of 2,953 patients, of those diagnosed, 50 (19.1%) died in hospital. 

About Melioidosis

• It is an infectious disease caused by the environmental Gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. 
  • Burkholderia pseudomallei is found in soil and water in tropical and subtropical regions.
• It is seasonal, with 75–85% of cases occurring during the rainy season.
• It is common in people living with: Diabetes, Alcohol use disorder, Chronic kidney disease Chronic lung disease (like cystic fibrosis or COPD).
• Symptoms: Fever, headache, trouble breathing and Stomach or chest pain etc.
• Transmission

• • Infection usually occurs when contaminated soil or water enters the body through cuts or wounds.
  • Inhalation of contaminated dust or water droplets and, less commonly, ingestion of contaminated water can also transmit the bacterium.
• It is not typically transmitted from animals to humans, and human-to-human transmission is exceptionally rare.
• Melioidosis can cause pneumonia, bloodstream infection, skin and soft-tissue infections, abscesses in organs such as the liver and spleen, septic arthritis and bone infections.
• It is an infectious disease endemic in Southeast Asia, northern Australia, much of the Indian subcontinent, southern China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
• Treatment:  Treatment has two phases: an initial intensive phase with intravenous antibiotics, followed by prolonged oral eradication therapy to reduce the risk of relapse.

Source: TH

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