AIDS Patients at Risk From Germs in Cats and Lice

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

AIDS Patients at Risk From Germs in Cats and Lice

Washington Times (12/25/97) P. A7

Abstract: According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the bacteria responsible for cat-scratch fever and trench fever are serious health threats to people whose immune systems are weakened by AIDS. Dr. Jane E. Koehler and colleagues from University of California at San Francisco examined 49 patients with bacillary angiomatosis,which causes serious skin sores and life-threatening complications. They discovered that 26 of the patients had been infected with Bartonella henselae, which causes cat-scratch fever, and 23 had Bartonella quintana, which causes trench fever. Those who were infected with B. henselae, a bacteria that spreads from cat to cat via fleas and then to people by cat scratches, frequently had exposure to cats, while those with B. quintana, a germ that lives in human body lice, were likely to be homeless.

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