title: Spirochaetemia in a HIV positive patient.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Borreliosis, caused by Borrelia recurrentis and several other Borrelia species is not a commonly reported case in our environment, but the search for the cause of recurrent pyrexia in this patient made it possible to discover the spirochete as the cause of the disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 38 year old married HIV positive woman presented with recurrent fever in a private clinic. Six thin smears were made out of the patient serum and dried in the air. Three slides each were stained with 0.12% Leishman and 20% Giemsa stains and examined under the light microscope.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three of the Giemsa slides were positive for spirochetes (4-5 spirals), which were constituents with Borrelia species. The patient responded very well to tetracycline and serum became negative for the organism after ten days of treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Borrelia was discovered to be the cause of the recurrent pyrexia in this patient who responded very well to tetracycline. Borrelia should be looked for in cases of pyrexia of unknown origin
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Okwori
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001898:Borrelia / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001899:Borrelia Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D005335:Fever of Unknown Origin / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D013752:Tetracycline / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D013752:Tetracycline