Bartonella (Rochalimaea) quintana causing fever and bacteremia in an immunocompromised patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
A 48-yr-old man with stage IV non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, became neutropenic following chemotherapy and developed a fever. His blood cultures were processed to enhance the yield of fastidious bacteria. A slow-growing, capnophilic Gram-negative rod was isolated. The febrile episode was treated with cefotaxime, imipenem and vancomycin and resolved. The bacterial isolate was identified as Bartonella (Rochalimaea) quintana by 16S-rDNA gene sequencing. The isolate showed 99.8% sequence homology with the type strain. This is the first isolation of Bartonella (Rochalimaea) quintana from a bacteremic patient in Australia. This bacterium is a fastidious Gram-negative rod requiring prolonged culture for its isolation. Patients with culture-negative pyrexia, especially immunocompromised patients, may need to be investigated for infection with this agent.
Rathbone
P
P
Department of Microbiology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Vic.
Graves
S
S
Miller
D
D
Odorico
D
D
Jones
S
S
Hellyar
A
A
Sinickas
V
V
Grigg
A
A
D016470:Bacteremia / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D018413:Bartonella quintana / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014205:Trench Fever / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*