Co-infection with Bartonella bacilliformis and Mycobacterium spp. in a coastal region of Peru

• Main Authors: Silva-Caso, Wilmer, Mazulis, Fernando, Weilg, Claudia, Aguilar-Luis, Miguel Angel, Sandoval, Isabel, Correa-Nuñez, German, Li, Dongmei, Song, Xiuping, Liu, Qiyong, del Valle-Mendoza, Juana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BioMed Central Ltd. 2017
• Subjects: Bartonella bacilliformis; Carrions disease; Mycobacterium; Peru; PCR
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10757/622482; http://repositorioacademico.upc.edu.pe/upc/handle/10757/622482

Objective This study investigated an outbreak of Bartonellosis in a coastal region in Peru. Results A total of 70 (n = 70) samples with clinical criteria for the acute phase of Bartonellosis and a positive peripheral blood smear were included. 22.85% (n = 16) cases of the samples were positive for Bartonella bacilliformis by PCR and automatic sequencing. Of those positive samples, 62.5% (n = 10) cases were positive only for B. bacilliformis and 37.5% (n = 6) cases were positive to both Mycobacterium spp. and B. bacilliformis. The symptom frequencies were similar in patients diagnosed with Carrion’s disease and those co-infected with Mycobacterium spp. The most common symptoms were headaches, followed by malaise and arthralgia.