Melioidosis kills seven people in Darwin, Top End in 2022-23 season

Seven people have died from melioidosis in the Top End in less than a year as the latest data shows a spike in cases. Here’s why some are being recorded outside the wet season.

Seven people have died from melioidosis in the Top End since October last year.

Seven people have died from melioidosis in the Top End in the past year and case numbers are on the rise, the latest NT Health data shows.

One of those deaths and several cases also fell outside the traditional season for the soil-borne bacterial disease.

There were 80 cases recorded in the 2022-23 wet season (October to April) and of those six people died, while another seven cases and one death came after May 1.

During the previous wet season four deaths were recorded from 56 cases, while another two people died from 15 cases in the following dry season months.

The latest statistics mark a significant increase of more than two-and-a-half times the case numbers of the 2020-21 season.

A NT Health spokesman said weather conditions had contributed to the spike in infections.

“Melioidosis is a disease caused by a bacterium that lives in the soil and comes to the surface after drenching rains,” he said.

“Heavy rainfall in the 2022–2023 wet season increased the risk of exposure to the bacteria, which enters the body through cuts and sores and can also be inhaled through dust and droplets when dirt is aerosolised during storms.

“To ensure protection from melioidosis, wear shoes when walking outside, gloves when working in soil and a mask when using a pressure hose.”

Those with pre-existing conditions likes diabetes, kidney disease, lung disease or cancer are more at risk of serious illness.

The most common symptoms include a fever, cough with mucus, shortness of breath, weight loss, fatigue, abdominal pain and urinary symptoms.