Bartonellosis
Introduction
Bartonella spp are members of the α-proteobacteria group that includes the genera Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, Brucella, and the plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens. They are fastidious bacteria that occur in the blood of man and mammals. Disease is usually transmitted by hematophagous insects, such as sandflies (Lutzomyia spp), fleas, and lice, but can also be transmitted by animal scratches and bites.1
Until recently, the term “bartonellosis” was applied only to infections caused by Bartonella bacilliformis that were endemic in Perú, Ecuador, and Colombia.2 Our current understanding of this genus and our growing appreciation of the similarities between human infections by different Bartonella spp support the use of this term for all infections caused by members of the genus Bartonella.1, 3
The Bartonella spp are increasingly being recognized as causes of bacteremia, fever of unknown cause, and culture-negative endocarditis, and are justifiably considered emerging human infections.4, 5 The genus currently has 23 members; however, only a handful are known to be of medical significance in humans. These include B bacilliformis, the cause of Oroya fever and verruga peruana; B henselae, the etiologic agent of cat-scratch disease, bacillary angiomatosis, and a cause of fever; B quintana, associated with trench fever, bacillary angiomatosis (as is B henselae), persistent asymptomatic bacteremia, and “culture-negative endocarditis”; B grahami, implicated in neuroretinitis; and B elizabethae.6, 7, 8
Section snippets
Carrión's disease
Bartonellosis, or Carrión's disease, has been recognized in the riverine valleys of the Peruvian Andes, because the pre-Columbian era.9 Because of its changing epidemiology, however, Carrión's disease is now emerging as a public health problem in Perú.9, 10, 11 It is increasingly being seen in the nonimmune pediatric age group as well as appearing in new locales in Colombia and Ecuador.2, 12, 13
The history of our knowledge of this curious disease is intimately linked with the history of the
Trench fever
Trench fever was described in soldiers during World War I and is so-called after the trenches in which they toiled.50 More than 1 million soldiers suffered during this epidemic. Other synonyms for the disease are quintana fever, shinbone fever, shank fever, His-Werner disease, and Wolhynia fever.
The causative organism was initially considered one of the Rickettsia spp and was designated R quintana. The organism proved difficult to culture, but the organism was isolated in 1961 after prolonged
Cat-scratch disease
Cat-scratch disease was first described in 1931, but the etiologic agent was not elucidated until decades later. Described as a benign inoculative lymphoreticulosis by Debré and Mollaret in 1950, this newly recognized clinical syndrome was later referred to as cat-scratch disease or maladie des griffes du chat.57 A gram-negative bacillus isolated from the lesions of cat-scratch disease by Wear in 1981 was considered to be the causative agent.58Afipia felis was initially considered as the cause,
Bacillary angiomatosis
A 1983 report of a new condition in HIV-infected patients triggered a new line of clinical and basic research in a field that, until then, had been virtually ignored. Bacillary angiomatosis was described as a new syndrome of reactive vascular proliferation induced by bacteria in patients with AIDS.76 A 1990 study found that angiomatosis was caused by an agent that was very similar to Rochalimaea quintana.41 During the same year, a gram-negative bacillus was isolated very similar to R quintana
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A system for transposon mutagenesis of Bartonella bacilliformis
2022, Journal of Microbiological MethodsCitation Excerpt :The secondary (chronic or tissue) phase, called verruga peruana, typically manifests 1–2 months after the primary phase as angiomatous cutaneous eruptions of the skin, due to vascular endothelial cell invasion by the bacteria with subsequent host cellular proliferation and angiogenesis (Schultz, 1968; Maguiña and Gotuzzo, 2000; Garcia et al., 1990). In certain cases, the secondary phase presents in patients without any apparent history of the primary phase (Maguiña and Guerra, 2009). Verruga peruana is seldom fatal, but afflicted individuals provide a human reservoir for the pathogen, owing to chronic bacteremia.
Subtractive genomics approach towards the identification of novel therapeutic targets against human Bartonella bacilliformis
2020, Informatics in Medicine UnlockedSkin Infections
2018, Diagnostic Pathology of Infectious DiseaseLymphadenopathies in human immunodeficiency virus infection
2018, Seminars in Diagnostic PathologyCitation Excerpt :Marked acute inflammation is also noted. The bacteria can be detected with the Warthin-Starry silver stain.21,23 Diagnosis can be confirmed with PCR.
Cutaneous manifestations of bartonellosis
2019, Anais Brasileiros de DermatologiaCitation Excerpt :As the disease progresses, a severe hemolytic condition, accompanied by lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly, is established. Disease worsening can lead to acute respiratory distress, pericardial effusion, myocarditis, endocarditis, delirium, seizures, coma and multiple organ failure.1,9,25 After an average of two months in the acute febrile phase (which may not occur, particularly in natives of the endemic region) the Peruvian wart appears, an eruptive cutaneous manifestation formed by angiomatous lesions, which is often clinically and histologically similar to lesions of bacillary angiomatosis (BA).