Penicilliosis marneffei complicated with interstitial pneumonia

Abstract

A 71-year-old man with interstitial pneumonia was hospitalized due to a pulmonary infection. He had been living in Thailand and had returned to Japan three months earlier. Antibiotic therapy initially cleared the infection; however, the patient's condition relapsed. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Penicillium sp. were both detected in sputum and bronchial lavage fluid cultures and Penicillium sp. was identified to be P. marneffei. The infiltration observed on chest radiographs improved following treatment with itraconazole and tazobactam/ piperacillin, and no relapse occurred. We herein report the first case of a non-HIV patient with P. marneffei infection in Japan. © 2014 The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine.