Gangrenous Purpura Fulminans Associated with Influenza A Infection

Background and Purpose: Purpura fulminans (PF) is a rapidly progressive disease of small-vessel thrombosis and hemorrhagic skin infarctions with high mortality and morbidity. Three forms of disease exist; neonatal, idiopathic and infectious. Infectious one usually appears secondary to gram-negative bacteremia and rarely secondary to viral infections.

Case Description: In this paper, we present a 27-year-old female patient with diagnosis of purpura fulminans secondary to Influenza A septicemia which is the first case reported in the literature.

Discussion: Several kinds of infection may cause purpura fulminans including rare viral infections so the clinician should be alert to diagnose and to treat purpura fulminans in case of purpuric and hemorrhagic lesions in patients with infectious diseases.