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Volume 5,
Issue 8,
2018
Volume 5, Issue 8, 2018
- Case Report
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- Blood/Heart and Lymphatics
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Measles during arbovirus outbreak: a diagnostic challenge
More LessIntroduction. Dengue fever is a major public health problem in New Caledonia, like in many Pacific Islands Countries and territories. In 2017 New Caledonia faced multiple circulations of arboviruses with a major outbreak of dengue and a co-circulating Zika virus. New Caledonia is considered as a non-endemic territory for measles since the mid 1990’s.
Case presentation. A 41-year-old male presented fever, headache, sinusitis and exanthematous maculopapular rash. A clinical diagnosis of arbovirus was first suspected due to the local epidemic context. A few days later the patient was admitted to the main hospital. The real time RT-PCR for dengue and Zika virus were negative on the first blood sample. A drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome and other infectious diseases including measles were then suspected. ELISA tests for measles were positive for IgM and equivocal for IgG. A throat swab was immediately shipped to a reference laboratory for measles nucleic acid testing. After a week, the patient recovered and the presence of measles RNA was confirmed. No secondary cases were reported among contacts of the patient and the source of his infection could not be ascertained.
Conclusion. Diagnosis of measles during an arbovirus outbreak in a country where measles disease is rare can be a pitfall for healthcare professionals. The introduction of measles via returned travellers or tourists from areas where measles remains endemic is a real threat to countries with high vaccine coverage.
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Cyberlindnera jadinii (teleomorph Candida utilis) candidaemia in a patient with aplastic anaemia: a case report
Introduction. We present what is believed to be the first report of candidaemia caused by Cyberlindnera (Pichia) jadinii (teleomorph of Candida utilis) in a patient with an aplastic anaemia.
Case presentation. The patient, a 21-year-old male, presented with hepatic cytolysis, cutaneous and pulmonary involvement, and septic shock. Cyberlindnera jadinii was identified by aerobic blood culture and MS. The patient initially received multiple and combined antifungal therapy, but continued to have persistent skin lesions and fever. He was successfully treated by emergency haploidentical haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, combined with triple antifungal therapy and supportive care.
Conclusion. Cyberlindnera jadinii, teleomorph of Candida utilis, which is not usually invasive, can lead to an opportunistic invasive infection in unhealthy adult patients. For treatment of the invasive candida infection, it is necessary to combine antifungal therapy and supportive care.
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- Central Nervous System
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Rare Elizabethkingia anophelis meningitis case in a Danish male
Introduction. Elizabethkingia anophelis is a Gram-negative, aerobic, non-motile rod belonging to the family Flavobacteriaceae. Over the last 5 years, it has emerged as an opportunistic human pathogen involved in neonatal meningitis and sepsis, as well as nosocomial outbreaks. It has been isolated from the midgut of the Anopheles gambiae mosquito, but there is no evidence for a role of the mosquito in human infections, and very little is known regarding the routes of transmission to humans. Recent studies, primarily from South-East Asia, suggest that E. anophelis, and not Elizabethkingia meningoseptica, is the predominant human pathogen of this genus. However, identification to the species level has been difficult due to the limitations of the current MALDI-TOF MS (matrix-associated laser desorption ionization-time of flight MS) systems for correct species identification.
Case presentation. Here, we present a rare case of E. anophelis meningitis in a Danish male, who had a travel exposure to Malaysia 7 weeks before hospitalization. A multidrug-resistant Elizabethkingia species was isolated from blood and cerebrospinal fluid, and genomic sequencing was used to characterize the phylogenetic position of the isolate, which was determined as associated with previously described sublineage 11. The patient was successfully treated with intravenous moxifloxacin and rifampicin for 2 weeks with no major sequelae, but we did not find the source of transmission.
Conclusion. All clinical microbiologists should be aware of the present limitations of the MALDI-TOF MS systems for correct species identification, and therefore we recommend the use of genome sequencing for the correct identification at the species and sublineage level.
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Guillain Barré syndrome associated with bladder instillation of Bacille Calmette Guérin (BCG)
More LessIntroduction. Guillain Barré Syndrome (GBS) has rarely been associated with tuberculosis and has been previously reported after Bacille Calmette Guérin (BCG) vaccination, but we report an association of GBS with intra-vesical BCG instillations followed by the clinical picture of disseminated BCGosis.
Case presentation. A 68-year-old man with bladder carcinoma had a transurethral tumour resection followed by repeated BCG instillations. Catheterization for his eighth dose was traumatic, causing frank haematuria. Ten days later he presented with fevers, myalgia and dyspnoea. Chest X-ray on admission showed micronodular shadowing and a computed tomography scan showed miliary changes in the lungs. Disseminated BCGosis infection was suspected and his symptoms did improve after starting rifamipicin, isoniazid and ethambutol. Over 2 weeks post-admission he developed an unsteady gait, reduced pin-prick sensation below both knees and fingertips, reduced proprioception in both toes and ankles, with absent reflexes in his lower limbs and diminished reflexes in his upper limbs. Nerve conduction studies showed a purely demyelinating sensori-motor peripheral neuropathy in upper and lower limbs, characteristic of GBS.
Conclusion. To our knowledge this is the first case report of GBS following bladder instillation of BCG. Given the millions of cases of tuberculosis and millions of doses of administered BCG, GBS must be a very rare adverse effect.
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- Hepatic
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A case of hepato-biliary infection secondary to cryptosporidium in a patient on tacrolimus
More LessIntroduction. Cryptosporidium infection is known to cause hepato-biliary involvement, mainly in association with T-cell immune deficiency. Hepato-biliary involvement in association with milder immunosuppression is less well described. We describe the first case, to our knowledge, of Cryptosporidium hominis hepato-biliary infection associated with tacrolimus in a patient with nephrotic syndrome.
Case presentation. A 14 year old girl who had been on tacrolimus for nephrotic syndrome presented with diarrhea due to C. hominis. Nineteen days after her initial presentation she attended hospital with abdominal pain and deranged liver function tests. An ultrasound scan showed a thickened gall bladder. Her symptoms settled and her liver function tests returned to normal after treatment with nitazoxanide.
Conclusion. Cryptosporidium should be considered in the differential diagnosis of both diarrhea and hepato-biliary symptoms and abnormal liver function tests, even in the presence of relatively mild immunosuppression. Nitazoxanide was an effective treatment in this case.
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