Bartonella bacilliformis
From IDWiki
Background
Epidemiology
- Range is essentially restricted to the Andean mountains in Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia
- Transmitted by Lutzomyia sand flies
- Humans are primary reservoir
Clinical Manifestations
- Traditionally presents as a biphasic illness with an acute phase (Oroya fever) and a late phase (verruga peruana)
- The acute phase starts after an incubation period of 3 to 12 weeks, and is characterized by fever, malaise, and a hemolytic anemia
- May only last a week and not present for medical care
- More severe disease can include high fever, chills, diaphoresis, anorexia, prostration, headache, and altered mental status
- The anemia can be profound in severe disease
- May be accompanied by severe myalgias and arthralgias, abdominal pain, emesis, jaundice, lymphadenopathy, thrombocytopenia, seizures, delirium, meningoencephalitis, obtundation, dyspnea, hepatic dysfunction, and angina, likely secondary to anemia and microvascular thrombosis
- Severe disease has high mortality if untreated, but decreases to 10% if treated
- The late phase occurs weeks to months after the acute phase, and is characterized by disseminated nodular skin lesions
- Crops of lesions proceed from miliary, to nodular, to mulaire lesions
- Mulaire lesions are superficial vascular bulbous lesions that can bleed and ulcerate
- Lesions can also be internal
- Lesions can come and go, with recurrences, over weeks to months
Diagnosis
- During acute phase, may see intraerythrocytic bacteria on blood film