Finally attempting to complete this series after a long hiatus. Fungal infections are common in patients with prolonged neutropenia (and therefore predominantly in patients with malignant haematological conditions or after allogeneic stem cell transplantation), and were present in a significant propotion of patients with acute leukaemia in various historical autopsy series. These infections are conventionally divided into yeast […]
A middle-aged woman presented with fever and lethargy, and was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) after thorough work-up. She underwent standard induction chemotherapy (IA 3+7) and received fluconazole prophylaxis in view of cost concerns. She developed neutropenic fever 3 days after completion of chemotherapy, and was prescribed IV imipenem after an extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Klebsiella […]
It is well known that patients with haematological disorders are at high risk for developing infections caused by different fungi. Part of this is due to the inherent immune system defects that develop as a consequence of their haematological disorders, but the greater part of the risk can be attributed to the treatment that they receive […]
After close to 5 years, we have finally had our Asia-Pacific epidemiological survey on invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) among patients with haematological disorders accepted for publication in the European journal Clinical Microbiology & Infection (it is unfortunately behind the infamous Elsevier pay wall!). This study was funded by the pharmaceutical giant Merck, Sharpe & Dohme, (MSD) and […]
This is the same middle-aged man presented in the previous clinical vignette. He had undergone allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) for underlying B-cell leukemia, with subsequent acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) of the liver. This was complicated 6 months later by RSV pneumonitis as previously described. His recovery was slow and required oxygen support even 3 […]
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