All Posts Tagged With: "Bartonellosis"

Full article:  http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/01913120902785567

Excerpt:

The authors present the case of a young man with aplastic anemia who went into shock and died after several red blood cell unit transfusions. Immunohematological studies did not show any abnormality and blood cultures from patients and blood bags were negative. The ultrastructural findings, allied with current scientific knowledge, permitted the diagnosis of Bartonella sp. infection. In face of this diagnosis, two possibilities should be considered: the first one is that the patient was already infected by the bacteria before the last RBC unit transfusion. The pathogen could be involved in aplastic anemia etiology and in the failure to recover hemoglobin levels, in spite of the transfusions. The second possibility is that the RBC unit was contaminated with a Bartonella sp., which would have led to a state of shock, causing the death of the patient.

Bartonellosis: an emerging infectious disease of
zoonotic importance to animals,and human beings.

J Vet Emerg Crit Care (San Antonio). 2010 Feb 1;20(1):8-30.

Bartonellosis: an emerging infectious disease of zoonotic
importance to animals and human beings.

Breitschwerdt EB, Maggi RG, Chomel BB, Lappin MR.

Department of Clinical Sciences, Center for Comparative Medicine
and Translational Research, College of Veterinary Medicine, North
Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606.

Objective- To provide a review of clinically relevant
observations related to Bartonella species as emerging pathogens
in veterinary and human medicine. Data
Sources- Literature as cited in PubMed and as generated by each
of the authors who have contributed to various aspects of the
clinical understanding of bartonellosis. Human Data Synthesis-
Important historical and recent publications illustrating the
evolving role of animal reservoirs as a source of human
infection. Veterinary Data Synthesis- Comprehensive review of the
veterinary literature.

Conclusions- In addition to inducing life-threatening illnesses,
such as endocarditis, myocarditis, and meningoencephalitis and
contributing to chronic debilitating disease, such as arthritis,
osteomyelitis, and granulomatous inflammation in cats, dogs, and
potentially other animal species; pets and wildlife species can
serve as persistently infected reservoir hosts for the
transmission of Bartonella spp. infection to veterinary
professionals and others with direct animal contact.

http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pu
bmed&id=20230432&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks
PMID: 20230432  [PubMed – in process]

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pu
bmed&id=20148999&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks
PMID: 20148999

Excerpt:

Summary Cat scratch disease is the most common zoonotic infection
caused by Bartonella bacteria. Among the many mammals infected
with Bartonella spp., cats represent a large reservoir for human
infection, as they are the main reservoir for Bartonella
henselae, Bartonella clarridgeiae and Bartonella koehlerae.
Bartonella spp. are vector-borne bacteria, and transmission of B.
henselae by cat fleas occurs mainly through infected flea faeces,
although new potential vectors (ticks and biting flies) have been
identified. Dogs are also infected with various Bartonella
species and share with humans many of the clinical signs induced
by these infections. Although the role of dogs as source of human
infection is not yet clearly established, they represent
epidemiological sentinels for human exposure. Present knowledge
on the aetiology, clinical features and epidemiological
characteristics of bartonellosis is presented.