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Background Purpura fulminans is an acute life-threatening disorder characterized by intravascular thrombosis and hemorrhagic infarction of the skin complicated with disseminated intravascular coagulation. It is commonly seen in acute infections following meningococcal and streptococcal infections. Few cases of purpura fulminans following rickettsial infections have been described in the literature. Case presentation We report a case of a 55-year-old Sri Lankan woman who presented to Teaching Hospital Peradeniya with a febrile illness, headache, and myalgia that progressed to an erythematous rash starting over the bilateral lover limbs and hands and that became black and necrotic with a few hemorrhagic blebs. She had normocytic anemia, platelet clumps, and monocytosis as well as a deranged clotting profile. The result of immunofluorescence antibody testing for rickettsial immunoglobulin G was strongly positive for Rickettsia conorii with a rise in titer convalescent sera, and a diagnosis of purpura fulminans following rickettsial infection was made. The patient made an excellent recovery with chloramphenicol treatment. Conclusions The treating physician should consider the rare but very treatable condition of rickettsial infection as a differential diagnosis in the etiological diagnostic workup of patients presenting with severe purpuric and hemorrhagic rash with fever.

Background Melioidosis is an emerging infection in the tropics caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. Poorly controlled diabetes is a known risk factor. Melioidosis has a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from a localized abscess to pneumonia to disseminated sepsis with multiorgan failure. Pyrexia of unknown origin is a common presentation. Abscesses in unusual anatomical locations are well known to be associated with melioidosis. Case presentation We report a case of a 64-year-old Sri Lankan Sinhalese man with prolonged fever and constitutional symptoms with a neglected swelling over the back of the scalp who was found to have an abscess in the subgaleal space of the scalp during surgical drainage. Burkholderia pseudomallei was isolated in pus culture, and melioidosis serology was highly positive. The patient was treated with ceftazidime for 2 weeks, followed by co-trimoxazole for another 3 months. He made a complete clinical recovery with normalization of inflammatory markers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of subgaleal abscess following melioidosis infection reported in the literature. Conclusions Abscesses in anatomically unusual locations should raise suspicion for melioidosis infection, particularly among patients with risk factors such as diabetes mellitus.