Bartonella quintana | Antibodies IgG, IgM (trench fever)

General Information

Bartonella quintana  It is a small, gram-negative bacterium. It causes a disease called "trench fever" depending on where it is found. Symptoms of the disease were discovered in 1915 in World War I soldiers who were in trenches and trenches. The louse of the human body is the carrier of the disease. The disease develops when the feces released by the louse get into the blood of a person. Since louse bites are itchy, bacteria can easily enter the bloodstream from the itchy skin. Human body lice are different from head lice, which are not  Bartonella quintana will transfer The human body louse lives in the folds of clothing and bed linen and lays eggs to reproduce.

Symptoms

"Trench fever" is usually not fatal, however, it is quite severe in immunocompromised patients. It is characterized by such manifestations as:

• Bone and joint pain
• Chills
• Fever
• Dizziness
• Enlargement of the liver and spleen
• headache
• Rash on the skin
• Weakness

The duration of fever is 4-5 days, although such an episode can be repeated several times during the course of the disease.

Other bacterial processes have the same symptoms as "trench fever", for example: leptospirosis, typhus and others.

Bartonella quintana Diagnosing is not so easy. Serological research is important - by determination of immunoglobulins.

In addition to skin damage, the pathogen spreads to other tissues: lymph nodes, blood, spleen, liver, bone marrow, heart tissue.

Study material: Venous blood

Patient preparation: not required

Referral norms

IgM < 1:12

IgG < 1:64

A positive titer of immunoglobulin M indicates an acute infectious process.

Immunoglobulin G positive test - indicates an acquired infection or a chronic condition.