ABSTRACT
The aim of the present study was to investigate the epidemiology of Legionnaires' disease (LD) caused by Legionella longbeachae in Taiwan during 2006-2010. A total of six cases were identified prospectively, accounting for 1.6% of all laboratory-confirmed LD cases and 4.4% of culture-positive LD cases. All six cases occurred between April and August. The male to female ratio was 0.5. These six LD patients had a higher median age than those with LD due to Legionella pneumophila. Four of the six patients presented with pleural effusion and five survived the infection episode. Only two patients had a potential soil contact history prior to LD onset. The patients resided in divergent geographical areas without a common exposure history. The individual genomic DNA banding patterns of the six L. longbeachae isolates analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were unique, supporting the hypothesis that the L. longbeachae infections occurred sporadically.
Subject(s)
Legionella longbeachae/isolation & purification , Legionellosis/epidemiology , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , DNA, Bacterial/genetics , Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field , Female , Humans , Legionella longbeachae/genetics , Legionellosis/microbiology , Male , Middle Aged , Pleural Effusion , Prospective Studies , Taiwan/epidemiologySubject(s)
Aspergillus/isolation & purification , Mycetoma/therapy , Remission, Spontaneous , Female , Humans , Middle AgedABSTRACT
We describe a case of empyema thoracis caused by Rhizopus oryzae diagnosed in an allogenic bone marrow transplant patient with acute lymphocytic leukemia. The isolate of R. oryzae was recovered from three pleural effusion specimens, which were black in color. It was identified on the basis of characteristic colonial appearance and microscopic findings, as well as the partial sequencing of rRNA genes. The patient died of uncontrolled R. oryzae empyema thoracis and concomitant nosocomial infection.
