Cultivation of the bacillus of Whipple's disease
Article Abstract:
Researchers have been able to isolate the bacterium that causes Whipple's disease and grow it in culture media. Whipple's disease is a bacterial infection that can cause symptoms in many different organs. However, it has been difficult to grow the bacterium in culture media so that a diagnostic test can be developed. The bacterium was successfully isolated from a 42-year-old man with an infection of the heart. Mice who were injected with the bacterium developed antibodies against it. These antibodies also detected the bacterium in the patient's heart.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 2000
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Bartonella (Rochalimaea) quintana endocarditis in three homeless men
Article Abstract:
Bartonella quintana, the agent of trench fever, may be a cause of endocarditis in homeless patients. Blood samples from patients may wrongly diagnose B. quintana as a chlamydial infection. Endocarditis is an inflammation of the heart lining. A study of blood samples from three homeless men in France found B. quintana in the three samples, identified through analysis of the 16S rRNA sequence determined by using rapid DNA preparation and automatic DNA sequencing. None of the men were HIV positive. The patients had high titers of IgG antibodies against Chlamydia pneumoniae, possibly a result of chlamydial infection or of a blood cross reaction between chlamydia species and B. quintana. Positive identification of B. quintana may be confirmed by finding the microorganism in blood or a heart valve. The body louse, Pediculus humanus, has been identified as the transmitter of B. quintana in trench fever, so named because it was found to affect soldiers in trenches during World Wars I and II. Poor hygienic conditions may promote contagion of trench fever.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 1995
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Chronic Bartonella quintana bacteremia in homeless patients
Article Abstract:
Trench fever appears to be making a comeback among homeless people in France. Trench fever was first described during World War I, was linked to body lice, and was eliminated by proper hygiene. Researchers at a hospital in Marseilles discovered that 30% of 71 homeless people treated in the emergency department had antibodies against Bartonella quintana, the bacterium that causes trench fever. Body lice from three of the patients also tested positive for Bartonella quintana. Some of the patients had symptoms of trench fever, including headache and severe leg pain.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 1999
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