The hidden burden of melioidosis in Nepal: a paradigm for the urgent need to implement a simple laboratory algorithm to detect  Burkholderia pseudomallei in low-resource endemic areas 

GlohMed’s recent publication appraises a less recognized, much neglected, tropical disease, which is highly endemic in South Asian countries, including Nepal. Melioidosis, an emerging infectious disease caused by the Gram-negative bacillus Burkholderia pseudomallei, is massively underdiagnosed, despite high proportion of populations being engaged in rural farming and having risk factors such as diabetes, alcoholism and chronic kidney and lung disease. The article published in International Journal of Infectious Disease (IJID Regions), an esteemed journal of the International Society of Infectious Disease (ISID), recommends that health facilities in resource-poor countries can introduce a simple and low-cost diagnostic laboratory algorithm for the identification of B. pseudomallei cultures. This article also highligths the prospect of rapid easy-to-use point-of-care serology based tests that are currently under research and development.