Melioidosis: a reminder

Recrudescent pulmonary melioidosis developed in two patients 12 and 16 years after their last travels to an endemic area. In one, a clinically silent prostatic abscess may have been the focus; and in both, the diagnosis was difficult to make even when the laboratory was notified of the possibility of infection with Pseudomonas pseudomallei. Recrudescent melioidosis should be considered in febrile patients who have been in endemic areas regardless of the interval from last exposure to the development of disease.