From Lee Seldon
I read with interest your article on so-called sleeper cells – bacteria that become dormant to survive antibiotics, reactivating when the threat has passed (31 March, p 40). From experience, I am sure Burkholderia pseudomallei (previously called Pseudomonas pseudomallei), which causes melioidosis, should be on the list of such organisms.
I got this infection in 2008 in Borneo. It manifested as pneumonia and was treated with two weeks of intravenous antibiotics. One week after finishing the treatment, and while on a preventative course of ampicillin, I had a recurrence.
This was frightening, given the sledgehammers that were used against the original infection, and I could not understand it until I read your article.
Malacca, Malaysia
