Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
A report of cat scratch disease in Korea confirmed by PCR amplification of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic region of Bartonella henselae.
- Journal:
- The Korean journal of laboratory medicine
- Year:
- 2010
- Authors:
- Suh, Borum et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Laboratory Medicine · South Korea
Plain-English summary
This report discusses a case of cat scratch disease, which is caused by a bacteria called Bartonella henselae, in an 8-year-old girl. She had a fever and swollen lymph nodes in her armpits, but standard tests did not find any germs. However, a special DNA test identified the bacteria with a very high accuracy. The study suggests that when someone has swollen lymph nodes and has been around cats or dogs, doctors should use advanced testing methods to check for this bacteria, in addition to regular tests. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of using molecular methods for accurate diagnosis in such cases.
Abstract
We report a case of cat scratch disease in an 8-yr-old girl who presented with fever and enlargement of both axillary lymph nodes. Both aerobic and anaerobic cultures of the lymph node aspirate were negative for microbial growth. Gram staining and Warthin-Starry silver staining did not reveal any organism. Purified DNA from the PCR-amplicon of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic region was sequenced and showed 99.7% identity with the corresponding sequence of Bartonella henselae strain Houston-1. Our findings suggest that the internal transcribed spacer is a reliable region for PCR identification of Bartonella species. In patients with lymphadenitis, a history of contact with cats or dogs necessitates the use of diagnostic approaches that employ not only the conventional staining and culture but also molecular methods to detect B. henselae.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20197720/