Successful treatment outcome of primary melioidosis pneumonia-a case report from Bangladesh

Background Melioidosis is endemic in tropical Australia and Southeast Asian countries and its causative organism Burkholderia pseudomallei is a recognized cause of pneumonia in these regions. Recent isolation of the organism in the soil of Kapasia, Gazipur, Bangladesh has proven its exposure among the population residing in endemic areas of our country. Pneumonia is the most common presentation of melioidosis. Acute, subacute and chronic pneumonia due to B. pseudomallei can present as primary or secondary pneumonia. Treatment of such cases are challenging as well. Till date, few cases of acute and chronic pneumonia due to melioidosis occurring in local Bangladeshis as well as in returning travelers to Europe have been reported. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of primary melioidosis pneumonia declared cured after a 27 weeks of treatment regimen from Bangladesh.