An outbreak of Pichia ohmeri infection in the paediatric intensive care unit: case reports and review of the literature

Abstract

Since the first report in 1998, 10 cases of Pichia ohmeri infection have been reported in the literature. Here we present two new cases of P. ohmeri infection in the paediatric age group. The first case was an 8-month-old male infant, who was admitted with fever, convulsions and altered consciousness. Conservative therapy was started with a presumptive diagnosis of encephalitis. The patient failed to respond to the given treatments and died on the 21st day of hospitalisation. The second case was a 10-year-old male with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. He was hospitalised with neutropenic fever. He was discharged after 3 weeks of therapy. In both cases P. ohmeri was identified in blood samples. Growing evidence indicates that P. ohmeri should be added to the lengthening list of opportunistic fungal pathogens that can cause infection in all ages, including infants, and particularly in those who are immunocompromised.