Tropical pyomyositis in eastern Ecuador

In the ten year period 1980-1989, 97 patients were treated for tropical pyomyositis at Hospital Vozandes Oriente in eastern Ecuador, accounting for 2.2% of surgical admissions. Operation records from an affiliated hospital in Quito showed that, high on the Andean plateau, pyomyositis accounted for only 0.1% of surgical admissions. Among the patient population of Ecuador's eastern tropical rain forest, persons who were members of an indigenous ethnic group were affected with pyomyositis twice as often as would be expected from their representation in the general population.