African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 2 (10), pp. 390-391, October 2003

ISSN 1684–5315  © 2003 Academic Journals

Short Communication

Prevalence of Bartonella infection among patients with fever

Kei Numazaki

Department of Pediatrics, Sapporo Medical University, School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-8543, Japan. Tel: (011) 611-2111 EXT.3413, Fax: (011) 611-0352, E-mail: numazaki@sapmed.ac.jp.

Accepted 26 September 2003

Bartonella henselae has been associated with an increasing spectrum of clinical syndromes including cat scratch disease. The prevalence of Bartonella infection among patients with unexplained fever in San Francisco was much greater than has previously been documented. However, out of 29 Japanese children with fever of unknown origin, only one had serum IgG antibody to B. henselae. Although general prevalences of serum antibodies to some infectious agents in healthy adults are higher than those of healthy children, the prevalence of B. henselae infections in Japanese population is not so high as expected.

Key words:  Bartonella henselae, cat scratch disease, fever of unknown origin.