Melioidosis as a consequence of sporting activity

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2013 Aug;89(2):365-6. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.12-0744. Epub 2013 Jun 3.

Abstract

In the tropical city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, dry season soil sampling cultured Burkholderia pseudomallei from 7 (70%) of 10 sports fields. However, during the 23 years of the Darwin Prospective Melioidosis Study, only 5 (0.6%) of 785 melioidosis cases have been attributed to infection from sports fields. In one soccer player with cutaneous melioidosis, B. pseudomallei cultured from the player was identical by multilocus sequence typing and multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis with an isolate recovered from soil at the location on the sports field where he was injured. Melioidosis is uncommon in otherwise healthy sports persons in melioidosis-endemic regions but still needs consideration in persons with abrasion injuries that involve contact with soil.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
  • Burkholderia pseudomallei / classification
  • Burkholderia pseudomallei / genetics
  • Burkholderia pseudomallei / isolation & purification*
  • Humans
  • Melioidosis / drug therapy
  • Melioidosis / etiology*
  • Melioidosis / microbiology*
  • Multilocus Sequence Typing
  • Northern Territory
  • Skin Diseases, Bacterial / drug therapy
  • Skin Diseases, Bacterial / etiology
  • Skin Diseases, Bacterial / microbiology*
  • Soccer*
  • Soil Microbiology*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents