Abstract

Bartonella quintana is a louse-borne gram-negative bacillus that remains a poorly characterized cause of bacteremia, fever, and infective endocarditis. Due to the link with pediculosis, B quintana transmission is tied to poverty, conflict, overcrowding, and inadequate water access to maintain personal hygiene. Although these risk factors may be present globally, we argue that a substantial burden of undocumented B quintana infection occurs in Africa due to the high prevalence of these risk factors. Here, we describe the neglected burden of B quintana infection, endocarditis, and vector positivity in Africa and evaluate whether B quintana meets criteria to be considered a neglected tropical disease according to the World Health Organization.

Details

Title
Hidden Burden of Bartonella quintana on the African Continent: Should the Bacterial Infection Be Considered a Neglected Tropical Disease?
Author
Boodman, Carl 1 ; Fongwen, Noah 2 ; Pecoraro, Alfonso J 3 ; Mihret, Adane 4 ; Abayneh, Hiwot 4 ; Fournier, Pierre-Edouard 5 ; Gupta, Nitin 6 ; Johan van Griensven 7 

 Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Manitoba , Winnipeg, Manitoba , Canada 
 Diagnostics Access, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention , Addis Ababa , Ethiopia 
 Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital , Cape Town , South Africa 
 Microbiology Department, Armauer Hansen Research Institute , Addis Ababa , Ethiopia 
 French Reference Center for Rickettsioses, Q Fever and Bartonelloses, Institut Hospitalier Universitaire , Marseille , France 
 Department of Infectious Diseases, Kasturba Medical College , Manipal , India 
 Unit of Neglected Tropical Diseases, Clinical Sciences Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine , Antwerp , Belgium 
Publication year
2024
Publication date
Feb 2024
Publisher
Oxford University Press
e-ISSN
23288957
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3171904872
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America. This work is published under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.