Journal Article

Case report: Cervical suppurative lymphadenitis caused by burkholderia multivorans in a healthy child

Niu, Bei-bei, Xu, Jing-jing, Li, Ji-an, Zhu, Ling-dong

2025

Overview

Background Cervical suppurative lymphadenitis in children is commonly caused by Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogenes. However, cases caused by Burkholderia multivorans (BM) are rare. The clinical presentation lacks specificity, making it difficult for clinicians to recognize, which may delay diagnosis and treatment. Case presentation We report a case of a 5-year-old boy admitted with recurrent fever and neck swelling. Initial treatment with meropenem and linezolid was ineffective, and symptoms persisted after 24 days of conservative therapy. Aspiration of pus yielded negative culture results. Definitive diagnosis was achieved through surgical biopsy of cervical lymph nodes, pathological examination, and metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS), which identified BM as the causative pathogen. The patient was successfully treated with a combination of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and meropenem. The cervical lesion exhibited granulomatous inflammation and was managed with adjunctive vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) therapy, resulting in complete wound healing without recurrence. Conclusions This study aims to raise awareness among all specialists about BM as a potential causative agent in cervical suppurative lymphadenitis. Early recognition and timely intervention can reduce misdiagnosis and missed diagnoses, improving patient outcomes.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Abdomen / Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use / Antibiotics / Antigens / Bacteria / Biopsy / Blood / Burkholderia / Burkholderia Infections - diagnosis / Burkholderia Infections - drug therapy / Burkholderia Infections - microbiology / Burkholderia multivorans / Care and treatment / Case Report / Case reports / Cervical suppurative lymphadenitis / Child, Preschool / Children / Control / Cystic fibrosis / Cytokines / Cytomegalovirus / Demographic aspects / Diagnosis / Epstein-Barr virus / Fever / General anesthesia / Gram-positive bacteria / Granulomatous inflammation / Health aspects / Healthy child / Humans / Identification and classification / Immunoglobulins / Infections / Infectious Diseases / Internal Medicine / Linezolid / Lymph node tuberculosis / Lymph nodes / Lymph Nodes - microbiology / Lymph Nodes - pathology / Lymphadenitis / Lymphadenitis - diagnosis / Lymphadenitis - drug therapy / Lymphadenitis - microbiology / Lymphadenitis - pathology / Lymphatic system / Male / Medical history / Medical Microbiology / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Meropenem / Meropenem - therapeutic use / Metagenomics / Neck / Neck - microbiology / Neck - pathology / Next-generation sequencing / Pain / Parasitology / Pathogens / Patients / Precise diagnosis / Sepsis / Sulfamethoxazole / Trimethoprim / Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole / Tropical Medicine / Tuberculosis / Tumor necrosis factor-TNF / Ultrasonic imaging / Wound healing