Staphylococcus aureus induced giant renal abscess in an immunocompetent patient: Unexpected case

Abstract

In developing countries in general, medicine is readily available on the street or in pharmacies without a medical prescription. Our observation was made in a rural hospital and describes a case of Staphylococcus aureus (methicillin sensitive) infection, in an immunocompetent young black housewife who had surgery for a giant abscess on the right kidney, with resulting 2.5 L of pus. Methicillin-sensitive staphylococcus aureus was identified after culture of pus. This case raises two questions: firstly, to identify any predisposing factors as commonly seen in the case of renal abscess; secondly, to identify the likely origin of the infection and its mode of dissemination. There was probable recent antibiotic therapy; although we cannot formally confirm the presence of antibiotic during self-medication. Lesson learned from this is that, inappropriate self-medication can lead to the reappearance of a type of infection that had become very rare since the development and introduction of antibiotics.

Keywords

• Self-medication
• Giant renal abscess
• Staphylococcus aureus methicillin sensitive