Workshopon Melioidosis awareness, Diagnostics and Research.
Bhubaneswar,:

In the form of sporadic occurrence in India, Melioidosishas now grabbed the attention of the medical community through its presence inOdisha too. The disease which is endemic in neighboring countries like Bangladeshand Sri Lanka, Caused by environmental Gram-negative bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei. The bacteriuminherently present in the soil can be acquired by inoculation, inhalation andingestion, with most of the cases presenting during monsoon and post monsoon, informedexperts from different specialties in a hands on workshop on Melioidosisawareness, Diagnostics and Research jointly organized by MicrobiologyDepartment, AIIMS Bhubaneswar and KMC Manipal as part of the Pre-ConferenceWorkshop series of 45th Annual Conference of Medical Microbiologists(MICROCON-2022).Melioidosis has baffledmedical community in having myriad manifestations presenting acutely with highfever, pneumonia, visceral abscesses culminating in life threatening sepsis toindolent presentations of persistent low-grade fever, lymphadenitis and thushas earned a moniker of “great mimicker”, informed Dr Bijayini Behera, AddlProf, Department of Microbiology, AIIMS Bhubaneswar. Patients with poorlycontrolled diabetes, hazardous level of alcohol consumption, and exposure torice paddy fields remain at highest risk of getting the disease. Urban dwellingpeople with minimum levels of soil exposure like gardening can also get thedisease, opined Dr. Rashmiranjan Mohanty, Addl Prof. General Medicine, AIIMSBhubaneswar. Widespread construction activities, and Norwester wind(Kalabaisakhi) are also associated environmental factors of acquiring thedisease by inhalation routes.  Thedisease, without an accurate diagnosis and treatment, can be fatal in more thanhalf of the cases, said Prof P.R Mohapatra, DEAN-Head Pulmonary Medicine.   Dr Prakash Sasmal, AddlProf. General Surgery Department sharing his experience added that over the lastone decade of diagnosing and treating more than two hundred cases ofmelioidosis have been found here at AIIMS, with more than half of the casesfrom Khorda district. The KMC Manipal team headedby Prof.  Chiranjay Mukhopadhayay, thefounder of Indian Melioidosis Research Forum. The Workshop was attended byparticipants from several states of the country. They were offered hands-on training on laboratory diagnosis of Burkholderiapseudomallei by various conventional, molecular and point of careserological methods, adhering to requisite biosafety precautions.