Hemophagocytic Syndrome in a Patient with HIV and Histoplasmosis: A not so Rare Correlation.

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a disorder that occurs due to unsuitable monocyte activation in a variety of infections. In human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections, patients with advanced immunossupression associated with opportunistic infections are at increased risk of developing HLH. We describe a clinical case of a 33-year-old male student diagnosed with HIV who was hospitalized for investigation of asthenia and dyspnea, accompanied by adynamia, decreased motor force in the left leg, dysphagia, and dysfluency. His general condition was regular, he was pale, feverish, and had normal cardiac and pulmonary auscultation. Physical examination revealed ulcerated lesions in the perianal region and hepatosplenomegaly without palpable lymph node enlargement. Laboratory parameters showed pancytopenia, a slight increase in liver function accompanied by high lactate dehydrogenase, and hiperferritinemia. The initial diagnosis was disseminated histoplasmosis, thus amphotericin B deoxycholate was empirically prescribed while waiting on myeloculture and blood cultures for fungi and mycobacteria. Other clinical procedures were blood transfusion, resumption of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and secondary prophylaxis. Myeloculture blood cultures of fungi and mycobacteria were negative. Patient evolved well in relation to the initial complaints and showed partial clinical and laboratory improvement. However, 23 days after hospitalization, he developed a febrile episode accompanied by chills and a convulsive crisis. The patient was transferred to the intensive unit care and developed septic shock and respiratory failure. He died 25 days after the onset of the condition. After the postmortem examination, histopathology revealed countless rounded fungal structures compatible with Histoplasma sp., which were observed in the peripancreatic lymph node, liver, and spleen, in addition to hemophagocytosis in the splenic parenchyma. We thus conclude that when the patient met criteria for HLH, such as fever, hepatosplenomegaly, hiperferritinemia, and pancytopenia, the evolution was fast due to the aggressive and rapidly fatal nature of HLH, despite anti-fungal and corticoid treatment. Therefore, this case report reinforces the need to consider hemophagocytic syndrome in patients with HIV and disseminated histoplasmosis, especially where histoplasmosis is highly endemic, in order for the treatment be started early when there is high clinical suspicion.

Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infections after Aesthetic Procedures: Comparison of Clinical Features and Treatment.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) have been increasingly identified as causative of numerous cosmetic procedure related infections worldwide. This manuscript reports clinical aspects and antimicrobial resistance profiles of NTM infections associated with aesthetic procedures diagnosed in a private infectious disease clinic in the Brazilian Amazon. Four patients developed skin and soft tissue infections between August 2015 and August 2019. Clinical, microbiological, and epidemiological data were collected. M. conceptionense, M. abscessus and M. fortuitum were isolated. The histopathology showed dermal granulomatous inflammation. All patients were treated with a combination of antimycobacterial regimens, mainly with moxifloxacin and clarithromycin.

Tuberculosis and malaria walk side by side in the Brazilian Amazon: an ecological approach.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the spatial distribution of TB and malaria incidence, as well as their spatial association with each other, regardless of environmental and socio-economic factors commonly reported as determinants of both disease rates among the municipalities of Amazonas State, Brazil between 2012 and 2015. METHODS: Through an ecological approach considering municipalities of Amazonas, Brazil, as unit of analysis, a negative binomial regression model was used to assess association between malaria and TB rates, in which the dependent variable was the average municipal tuberculosis incidence rate. RESULTS: Positive associations of overall malaria (ß = 0.100 [CI = 0.032, 0.168], P = 0.004), P. vivax malaria (ß = 0.115 [CI = 0.036, 0.195], P = 0.005), and P. falciparum malaria (ß = 0.389 [CI = -0.0124, 0.791], P = 0.057) with TB rates were found, regardless of the sociodemographic factors included in the study. CONCLUSION: In the Brazilian Amazon, TB and malaria are spatially associated. Therefore, it is very likely that co-infections also occur in this region, regardless of the HIV status.

OBJECTIF: Evaluer la distribution spatiale de l'incidence de la tuberculose (TB) et du paludisme, ainsi que leur association spatiale, indépendamment des facteurs environnementaux et socioéconomiques communément rapportés comme déterminants des taux des deux maladie dans les municipalités de l'Etat d'Amazonas, au Brésil, entre 2012 et 2015. MÉTHODES: Dans le cadre d'une approche écologique prenant en considération les municipalités d'Amazonas, au Brésil, comme unité d'analyse, un modèle de régression binomiale négatif a été utilisé pour évaluer l'association entre les taux de paludisme et de TB, dans laquelle la variable dépendante était le taux moyen d'incidence municipale de la TB. RÉSULTATS: Des associations positives entre le paludisme en général (ß = 0,100 [IC= 0,032 à 0,168], p = 0,004), le paludisme à P. vivax (ß = 0,115 [IC: 0,036 à 0,195], p = 0,005) et le paludisme à P. falciparum (ß = 0,389 [IC: - 0,0124 à 0,791], p = 0,057) avec des taux de TB ont été retrouvées quels que soient les facteurs sociodémographiques inclus dans l'étude. CONCLUSION: En Amazonie brésilienne, la TB et le paludisme sont associés spatialement. Par conséquent, il est très probable que des coinfections se produisent également dans cette région, quel que soit le statut VIH.