Talaromyces marneffei Fungemia in a Patient with AIDS: The First Reported Observation in the Middle East

Abstract

We report the case of a patient who presented with septic shock and multiorgan failure. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Talaromyces marneffei were cultured from his blood. He was treated with a course of vancomycin along with amphotericin. Further work-up revealed him to be HIV positive with an absolute CD4 count of 14 cells/μL. Despite aggressive medical support, he eventually succumbed to his illness with Klebsiella pneumonia sepsis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported T. marneffei infection in the Middle East and the first observation of concomitant community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus bacteraemia and talaromycosis from the Middle East region.