Case reports

Disseminated nocardiosis in an immunocompetent patient

M Ndlovu, P M Jeena, S A Thula, S A Singh, R Masekela

Abstract


Nocardiosis is a rare opportunistic bacterial infection. We describe an 8-year-old immunocompetent patient who presented with constitutional symptoms suggestive of probable tuberculosis (TB) in whom we confirmed a diagnosis of nocardiosis. Nocardia is a Gram-positive bacterium that is ubiquitous in soil and decaying vegetable matter. N. asteroides is the most common species. Despite the traditional description of nocardiosis as an opportunistic infection, case reports and case series of pulmonary nocardiosis have recently been reported in immunocompetent patients. Three clinical presentations of nocardiosis have been described; acute, subacute and chronic suppurative infections with episodes of exacerbations and remissions. We describe the presentation, diagnosis, management and prognosis of a rare case of disseminated nocardiosis managed initially as disseminated TB with no improvement.


Authors' affiliations

M Ndlovu, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Nelson R Mandela School of Clinical Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

P M Jeena, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Nelson R Mandela School of Clinical Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

S A Thula, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Nelson R Mandela School of Clinical Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

S A Singh, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Nelson R Mandela School of Clinical Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

R Masekela, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Nelson R Mandela School of Clinical Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

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Cite this article

African Journal of Thoracic and Critical Care Medicine 2019;25(4):145-147. DOI:10.7196/SARJ.2019.v25i4.026

Article History

Date submitted: 2019-12-05
Date published: 2019-12-06

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