Whitmore's disease

Whitmore's disease
An infectious illness, also called melioidosis, that is most frequent in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia and is caused by a bacteria called "Pseudomonas pseudomallei" found in soil, rice paddies and stagnant waters. Humans catch the disease by inhalation of contaminated dust or when soil contaminated by the bacteria comes in contact with abraded (scraped) skin. Melioidosis most commonly involves the lungs where the infection can form a cavity of pus (abscess). The bacteria can also spread from the skin through the bloodstream the brain, eyes, heart, liver, kidneys, and joints. The common symptoms of melioidosis are not specific. They include headaches, fever, chills, cough, chest pain, and loss of appetite. Melioidosis can also cause encephalitis (brain inflammation) with seizures (convulsions). The diagnosis is by a microscopic evaluation of a sputum (spit) sample in the laboratory. A blood test may detect early acute cases of melioidosis. The treatment of melioidosis involves antibiotics and depends on the location of the disease: Mild illness: Antibiotics such as chloramphenicol, doxycycline, sulfisoxazole, or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. More severe illness: A combination of chloramphenicol, doxycycline, and co-trimoxazole. Very severe illness (as with persistent blood infection): Intravenous antibiotics including chloramphenicol. If sputum cultures remain positive for 6 months: Surgical removal of the lung abscess with lobectomy is considered. Antibiotic treatments may be necessary from 3 to 12 months. Melioidosis can remain latent (in hiding) for years and emerge when a person's resistance is low. The name, Whitmore's disease, is in honor of Major Alfred Whitmore (1876-1946), an English surgeon in India.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • Whitmore's disease — /ˈwɪtmɔz dəziz/ (say witmawz duhzeez) noun → melioidosis. {named after Alfred Whitmore, 1876–1946, British pathologist who identified the disease in Burma in 1911} …  

  • Disease, Whitmore's — An infectious illness, also called melioidosis, that is most frequent in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia and is caused by a bacteria called Pseudomonas pseudomallei found in soil, rice paddies and stagnant waters. Humans catch the disease… …   Medical dictionary

  • Whitmore disease — Whit·more disease (hwitґmor) [Major Alfred Whitmore, English surgeon in India, 1876–1946] melioidosis …   Medical dictionary

  • Disease — Illness or sickness often characterized by typical patient problems (symptoms) and physical findings (signs). Disruption sequence: The events that occur when a fetus that is developing normally is subjected to a destructive agent such as the… …   Medical dictionary

  • Whitmore — Alfred, English surgeon, 1876–1946. See W. disease …   Medical dictionary

  • Alfred Whitmore — Major Alfred Whitmore (1876 ndash;1946) was an English pathologist who, together with C.S. Krishnaswami, identified Burkholderia pseudomallei , the causative agent of melioidosis (also known as Whitmore s disease ) in opium addicts in Rangoon in… …   Wikipedia

  • Whitmore disease — melioidosis …   Medical dictionary

  • Melioidosis — An infectious illness, also called Whitmore s disease, that is most frequent in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia and is caused by a bacteria called Pseudomonas pseudomallei found in soil, rice paddies and stagnant waters. Humans catch the… …   Medical dictionary

  • Melioidosis — Classification and external resources ICD 10 A24.1 A24.4 ICD 9 …   Wikipedia

  • Pseudomonas pseudomallei — A bacteria that causes an infectious illness called melioidosis or Whitmore s disease that is most frequent in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia. Melioidosis most commonly involves the lungs where the infection can form a cavity of pus… …   Medical dictionary

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