Strongyloidiasis: An unusual cause of septic shock with pneumonia and enteropathy in western countries

We report a case of invasive strongyloidiasis in a patient from the French Antilles who had been living in France for many years, with no history of immunosuppression, and who was hospitalised in the intensive care unit for septic shock with multimicrobial hypoxaemia pneumonia and exudative enteropathy. Initiation of systemic corticosteroid therapy for septic shock seems to have precipitated onset of the parasitic infection, with recurrence of hypoxaemic pneumonia complicated by hypoxic cardiac arrest. The diagnosis was confirmed after roundworm larvae were found on bronchoalveolar lavage. Treatment with ivermectin was initiated, but the patient died in a context of postanoxic encephalopathy.