Bartonella Species
MICROBIOLOGY
- Small fastidious intracellular pleomorphic Gram-negative bacilli.
- Columbia, Brucella, BHI, and trypticase soy-based agars (all 5% blood supplemented), and chocolate agar are the most frequently used solid media for Bartonella isolation.
- Human infection occurs by the introduction of infection via flea feces from cats or kittens that become inoculated into the skin, often within new or existing scrapes/scratches.
- The intracellular lifestyle means recommended antibiotics for treatment (e.g., tetracyclines and macrolides) have good activity within the infected cells.
- Bartonella has > 45 known species, and more than seven cause human disease: B. henselae, B. bacilliformis, B. quintana, B. vinsonii, B. grahamii, B. elizabethae and B. koehlerae.
- Evolving nomenclature as subspecies classifications, e.g., Bartonella vinsonii subsp. yucatanensi.
- Best seen with Warthin-Starry silver stain or a Brown-Hopps tissue Gram stain.
- The primary reservoir of B. henselae is cats—50% of cats are seropositive and transmitted by saliva contact or scratching ("cat scratch fever" or catch scratch disease [CSD]).
- The menu of diseases caused by Bartonella includes cat scratch disease, retinitis, trench fever, Carrión’s disease [Oroyo fever and verruga peruana], relapsing bacteremia, endocarditis, bacillary angiomatosis, and bacillary peliosis hepatitis.
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Last updated: April 14, 2024
Citation
Auwaerter, Paul G. "Bartonella Species." Johns Hopkins ABX Guide, The Johns Hopkins University, 2024. Pediatrics Central, peds.unboundmedicine.com/pedscentral/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540056/all/Bartonella_Species.
Auwaerter PG. Bartonella Species. Johns Hopkins ABX Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2024. https://peds.unboundmedicine.com/pedscentral/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540056/all/Bartonella_Species. Accessed December 7, 2024.
Auwaerter, P. G. (2024). Bartonella Species. In Johns Hopkins ABX Guide. The Johns Hopkins University. https://peds.unboundmedicine.com/pedscentral/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540056/all/Bartonella_Species
Auwaerter PG. Bartonella Species [Internet]. In: Johns Hopkins ABX Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2024. [cited 2024 December 07]. Available from: https://peds.unboundmedicine.com/pedscentral/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540056/all/Bartonella_Species.
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