Introduction. Bartonella quintana infection (historically called ‘trench fever’) is a vector-borne disease primarily transmitted by the human body louse Pediculus humanus humanus.
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Is trench fever a bacteria?
Trench fever is an infection caused by Bartonella quintana, which is an aerobic gram-negative rod bacteria. It can vary in presentation, from non-specific symptoms such as fever, rash, malaise, and lumbago to bacteremia, endocarditis, and bacillary angiomatosis.
What does trench fever cause?
Trench fever is a bacterial disease transmitted by body lice. The symptoms include relapsing fevers, muscle aches, pain behind the eyes, severe headache, joint pain, rash, liver and spleen enlargement, and pain in the shins.
Is trench fever caused by Rickettsia?
As with typhus on the Eastern Front – a rickettsial disease that killed soldiers – control of lice was the key to managing the epidemic of Trench Fever.
Does trench fever still exist?
The disease persists among the homeless. Outbreaks have been documented, for example, in Seattle and Baltimore in the United States among injection drug users and in Marseille, France, and Burundi.
How is trench fever diagnosed?
Trench fever is a louse-borne disease caused by the gram-negative bacterium Bartonella quintana and observed originally in military populations during World Wars I and II. Symptoms are an acute, recurring febrile illness, occasionally with a rash. Diagnosis is by blood culture.
What is Bartonella infection?
Cat scratch disease (CSD), also called cat scratch fever, is a bacterial infection caused by Bartonella henselae, which is generally spread to people through cat bites or scratches. Most healthy people do not develop any symptoms, and those with a mild infection usually get better without any treatment.
How did they treat trench fever?
When medical officers first tried to treat trench fever, they used those medicaments that they had nearest to hand: those they carried in their standard issue drug boxes. One of these, quinine, was the first drug reportedly used to treat the condition.
What were the treatments for trench fever?
Treatment of Trench Fever
Patients are given doxycycline 100 mg orally 2 times a day for 4 to 6 weeks, plus, if endocarditis is suspected, gentamicin 3 mg/kg/day IV for the initial 2 weeks. Combination therapy is given for serious or complicated infections.
How do you know if you have Bartonella?
Untreated cases may take months to resolve, and some cases become chronic. Symptoms may include a gradual onset of fever, weakness, headache, joint pain, and/or night sweats. Other symptoms may include lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, and/or hepatomegaly.
What is the best antibiotic for Bartonella?
Currently, gentamicin in combination with doxycycline is considered the best treatment regimen for the confirmed human cases of Bartonella endocarditis, and ceftriaxone with gentamicin is recommended for infective endocarditis when Bartonella infection is suspected [7,8].
How do you test for Bartonella in humans?
Western blot tests appear to have greater specificity. The DNA of various Bartonella species can also be amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in blood, spinal fluid, and tissue; given the cross-reactivity of the Bartonellaantibody tests, PCR may be the most reliable and useful test for Bartonella infection.
Does Bartonella ever go away?
Some of the diseases due to Bartonella species can resolve spontaneously without treatment, but in other cases, the disease is fatal without antibiotic treatment and/or surgery.
What kind of doctor treats Bartonella?
A study from 2014 showed that 28% of symptomatic veterinarians had at least one Bartonella species in their bloodstream. There are also numerous case reports of veterinarians with chronic symptoms due to bartonellosis. One example of this is a veterinarian who developed severe symptoms and was found to have B.
How do you get rid of Bartonella?
The most potent drugs used in bartonella treatment include the fluoroquinolone antibiotics, which include ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and moxifloxacin.
Can you get Bartonella without Lyme?
While most people are familiar with the Bartonella infection known as Cat Scratch Disease, species of Bartonella can cause other diseases too. What’s more, Bartonella can be spread by ticks, making Bartonellosis an emerging tick-borne disease.
How long does it take to recover from Bartonella?
Duration. The duration of illness caused by B. henselae is usually 2 to 4 months with spontaneous recovery.
What happens if cat scratch fever goes untreated?
Symptoms typically involve fatigue, fever and swollen lymph nodes. But in a small number of cases, cat-scratch disease can cause the brain to swell or infect the heart. Infections like those can be fatal if they aren’t properly treated.