Affiliations 

  • 1 University of Malaya
MyJurnal

Abstract

Fusarium species is an emerging genus of fungal pathogens which until recently were rare causes of human disease apart from localized infection of the skin and nails. Two cases of fungaemia due to Fusarium sp. in children are described. The first child, an 8-year old girl with acute myeloid leukaemia developed character-sitic pyoderma gangrenosum-like skin lesions before succumbing to disseminated Fusarium infection and acute respiratory distress syndrome. The second child, a 5-month old boy, developed pneumonia associated with a transient erythematous skin rash while on chemother-apy for congenital leukaemia. Both patients had Fusarium isolated from blood. The second child improved after six weeks of treatment with ampho-tericin B and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulat-ing factor but ultimately she died of the disease follow-ing discharge. Fusarium spp should be recognised as an opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised patients. Current literature suggests that liposomal amphotericin B in conjunction with leukocyte growth factors are the treatment of choice in this potentially fatal infection.