Case report and review of Chromobacterium sepsis--a gram-negative sepsis mimicking melioidosis.

Chromobacterium violaceum has recently been recognised as a pathogen which can cause life-threatening disease. It is the only Chromobacterium species which is pathogenic to humans. Due to its unfamiliarity, clinicians often do not appreciate its importance when it is isolated in sterile cultures and may dismiss it as a "containment". It is therefore important for us to be aware of this infection and its clinical spectrum since it is a disease of the tropics. We report a paediatric case of documented Chromobacterium sepsis in Singapore who presented like septicaemic melioidosis associated with diminished T-cell numbers. A review of both fatal and non-fatal Chromobacterium, infections is also included.