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. 2013 Dec;45(4):446-50.
doi: 10.3947/ic.2013.45.4.446. Epub 2013 Dec 27.

First Case of Bartonella henselae Bacteremia in Korea

Jae-Hyoung Im  1 , Ji Hyeon Baek  1 , Hyun-Jung Lee  1 , Jin-Soo Lee  1 , Moon-Hyun Chung  1 , Mijeong Kim  1 , Sun Myoung Lee  2 , Jae-Seung Kang  3
Affiliations

First Case of Bartonella henselae Bacteremia in Korea

Jae-Hyoung Im et al. Infect Chemother. 2013 Dec.

Abstract

Bartonella henselae causes cat-scratch disease, bacteremia, and various focal infections. Despite the worldwide occurrence of B. henselae infections, reports in humans are rare in Korea. The clinical manifestation of all 5 previously reported cases was lymphadenopathy. Herein, we report a case of bacteremia in a woman who presented with prolonged fever. B. henselae was isolated from a blood specimen by cell culture. Conventional polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequencing of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic space region confirmed the isolate to be B. henselae. The patient had no underlying immunocompromising conditions and no recent exposure to animals. She was successfully managed with a combination of doxycycline and hydroxychloroquine.

Keywords: Bacteremia; Bartonella henselae; Chloroquine; Doxycycline; Fever of unknown origin.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Cell culture using ECV304 cells, 3 months after inoculation of the patient's blood specimen, revealed clusters of round refractile cells (×100 magnification); (B) Culture on blood agar showed small transparent colonies 9 days after inoculation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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