Background The epidemiology of melioidosis in Vietnam, a disease caused by the soil bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, remains unclear. This study aimed to detect paediatric melioidosis in South Vietnam and describe clinical features and the geographic distribution. Methods We introduced a simple laboratory algorithm for detecting B. pseudomallei from clinical samples at Children's Hospital 2 in Ho Chi Minh City in July 2015. A retrospective observational study of children <16 y of age with culture-confirmed melioidosis between July 2015 and August 2019 was undertaken. Results Thirty-five paediatric cases of melioidosis were detected, with cases originating from 13 of 32 provinces and cities in South Vietnam. The number of paediatric melioidosis cases detected from a certain region correlated with the overall number of inpatients originating from the respective geographic area. Suppurative parotitis (n=15 [42.8%]) was the most common clinical presentation, followed by lung infection (n=10 [28.6%]) and septicaemia (n=7 [20%]). Fourteen (40%) children had disseminated disease, including all cases of lung infection, four cases with central nervous system symptoms and four (11.4%) deaths. Conclusions The patients’ origin indicates a wide distribution of melioidosis in South Vietnam. It seems probable that cases not only in children, but also in adults, remain grossly undiagnosed. Further awareness raising and laboratory capacity strengthening are needed in this part of the country.

中文翻译：

---

胡志明市一家转诊儿童医院新发现的儿科类鼻疽病例表明南越可能对类鼻疽病认识不足

背景 越南类鼻疽是一种由土壤细菌类鼻疽伯克霍尔德氏菌引起的疾病，其流行病学仍不清楚。本研究旨在检测南越儿童类鼻疽并描述临床特征和地理分布。方法 2015 年 7 月，我们引入了一种简单的实验室算法，用于从胡志明市第二儿童医院的临床样本中检测类鼻疽杆菌。对 2015 年 7 月至 8 月间经培养确诊类鼻疽的 16 岁以下儿童进行回顾性观察研究2019 年已进行。结果 共发现儿童类鼻疽病例35例，病例来自南越32个省市中的13个。从某个地区检测到的儿科类鼻疽病例数与来自该地理区域的住院患者总数相关。化脓性腮腺炎 (n=15 [42.8%]) 是最常见的临床表现，其次是肺部感染 (n=10 [28.6%]) 和败血症 (n=7 [20%])。14 名（40%）儿童患有播散性疾病，包括所有肺部感染病例、4 名出现中枢神经系统症状的儿童和 4 名（11.4%）死亡。结论 患者的来源表明类鼻疽在越南南部广泛分布。看来，不仅儿童病例，而且成人病例也仍未得到确诊。该国这一地区需要进一步提高认识和加强实验室能力。