A systematic review of screening and diagnostic tests outcome for melioidosis in children and adolescents
Authors:   Department of Community Health, University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Noor Hazmi bin Noor Hassim Noor Hazmi bin Noor Hassim , Hua Yeh Li Hua Yeh Li ,   Department of Community & Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University Malaysia Sabah, Mohd Rohaizat Hassan Mohd Rohaizat Hassan ,   Department of Community Health, University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Nicholas Tze Ping Pang Nicholas Tze Ping Pang ,   Department of Community & Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University Malaysia Sabah, Norfazilah Ahmad Norfazilah Ahmad ,   Department of Community Health, University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Safirah Jaan Binti Jaafar Safirah Jaan Binti Jaafar ,   Department of Community Health, University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,   Department of Community & Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University Malaysia Sabah, Azmawati Mohammed Nawi Azmawati Mohammed Nawi ,   Department of Community Health, University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Azizan Omar Azizan Omar ,   Department of Community & Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University Malaysia Sabah
Published: February 2022

Melioidosis is a disease caused by infection of the Gram-negative environmental bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. Despite of the high fatality rate from this infection, melioidosis is often a neglected disease. It has been estimated that this disease was regularly under-reported in many countries in Southeast Asia and elsewhere in the tropics. Infection occurs following percutaneous inoculation, inhalation, or ingestion of the organism. The spectrum of the infection is broad, ranging from minor skin or soft tissue infection to pneumonia and bacteraemia with a high mortality rate. The objective of this study is to review the available literatures on the different methods of screening and diagnostic developed for melioidosis among children. Methods. Article search was conducted using two electronic databases including Science Direct and PubMed. Articles published within the year from 2013 until 2018 that fulfills the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected and included in the list for further review. Keywords such as melioidosis, children, screening and diagnosis were used during the article search process. Children and adolescent aged less than 19 years were chosen as the target group for this review. Results. Six full text article were selected and included in the final data extraction and analysis process. Overall, six different screening methods that were used in melioidosis detection were discussed in this review. Among these methods, blood culture technique was consistently reported in all the six selected literatures and have reported a 100% detection rate for melioidosis. Conclusion. The blood culture method showed the most promising result in detecting melioidosis compared to the other available methods of screening. This method has been consistently reported throughout the various studies with a reasonably high detection rate. Keywords: melioidosis, children, screening and diagnosis