title: A report of cat scratch disease in Korea confirmed by PCR amplification of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic region of Bartonella henselae.
abstract: We report a case of cat scratch disease in an 8-yr-old girl who presented with fever and enlargement of both axillary lymph nodes. Both aerobic and anaerobic cultures of the lymph node aspirate were negative for microbial growth. Gram staining and Warthin-Starry silver staining did not reveal any organism. Purified DNA from the PCR-amplicon of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic region was sequenced and showed 99.7% identity with the corresponding sequence of Bartonella henselae strain Houston-1. Our findings suggest that the internal transcribed spacer is a reliable region for PCR identification of Bartonella species. In patients with lymphadenitis, a history of contact with cats or dogs necessitates the use of diagnostic approaches that employ not only the conventional staining and culture but also molecular methods to detect B. henselae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Borum
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Jin-Kyoung
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.forename: Dongeun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yong
authors.forename: Yang Soon
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seok Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Woo Ick
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Dong Soo
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018416:Bartonella henselae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002372:Cat-Scratch Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002415:Cats; D002648:Child; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008199:Lymphadenitis / Q000150:complications; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics*; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S / Q000235:genetics*; D056910:Republic of Korea; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S