Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis - New York, 1995

Article Abstract:

Investigators from the New York Department of Health and the Westchester County Department of Health analyzed potential and confirmed ehrlichiosis cases. Ehrlichia is a type of bacterium that can be transmitted by ticks to humans and can cause a disease characterized by headache, fever, reduction of leukocytes in the blood (leukopenia), and decrease in blood platelets (thrombocytopenia). Medical records of 68 suspected cases of ehrlichiosis in the New York county of Westchester were reviewed. Serum samples from 30 suspected cases were tested for antibodies and 20 more were tested for DNA of the human granulocytic ehrlichiosis agent. A total of 29 cases met the criteria for confirmed or potential human granulocytic ehrlichiosis. Of the 23 confirmed cases, 11 had a substantial rise in antibodies to the infectious agent and 15 had human granulocytic ehrlichiosis ribosomal DNA. Twenty-two patients were treated with doxycycline. Physicians should consider the diagnosis of ehrlichiosis in patients who have been exposed to ticks and are leukopenic or thrombocytopenic.

Reports, New York, New York. Department of Health

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Direct cultivation of the causative agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis

Article Abstract:

The infectious organism that causes human granulocytic ehrlichiosis has been successfully grown in culture. Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis is a recently-described illness affecting white blood cells that is transmitted by ticks. Researchers used the polymerase chain reaction and other techniques to detect the infectious organism in blood samples from three people with the symptoms of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis. The blood samples were cultured with a cell line that resembles bone marrow, which is where all blood cells are produced. Within five days, the organism had infected the cells. DNA sequencing revealed that the organism is related to Ehrlichia equi, the organism that causes a similar illness in horses. Both species are believed to be transmitted by the tick Ixodes scapularis, which also transmits Lyme disease. Isolation of the causative agent may allow better diagnostic assays and greater understanding of the disease.

Identification and classification, Cell culture, Tissue culture, Ehrlichia

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Clinical and laboratory characteristics of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis

Article Abstract:

Upper Midwest residents who develop an illness similar to influenza after outdoor activity should be tested for human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE). HGE is an immune disorder caused by a bacterium called Ehrlichia, which infects white blood cells. Researchers identified 41 patients in upper Wisconsin and Minnesota who had evidence of Ehrlichia in their white blood cells. Almost 75% of the patients lived in Washburn, Sawyer or Douglas county in Wisconsin. Most developed fever, headache, shaking chills and muscle aches. Approximately half had to be hospitalized and two died. Thirty-four were treated with the antibiotic doxycycline, which resolved symptoms and immune disturbances within seven days. Ninety percent of the patients reported exposure to ticks, usually during outdoor activities. Almost three-quarters said they had been bitten by a tick prior to their illness.

Demographic aspects

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