title: Risk Factors for Bartonella species Infection in Blood Donors from Southeast Brazil.
abstract: Bacteria from the genus Bartonella are emerging blood-borne bacteria, capable of causing long-lasting infection in marine and terrestrial mammals, including humans. Bartonella are generally well adapted to their main host, causing persistent infection without clinical manifestation. However, these organisms may cause severe disease in natural or accidental hosts. In humans, Bartonella species have been detected from sick patients presented with diverse disease manifestations, including cat scratch disease, trench fever, bacillary angiomatosis, endocarditis, polyarthritis, or granulomatous inflammatory disease. However, with the advances in diagnostic methods, subclinical bloodstream infection in humans has been reported, with the potential for transmission through blood transfusion been recently investigated by our group. The objective of this study was to determine the risk factors associated with Bartonella species infection in asymptomatic blood donors presented at a major blood bank in Southeastern Brazil. Five hundred blood donors were randomly enrolled and tested for Bartonella species infection by specialized blood cultured coupled with high-sensitive PCR assays. Epidemiological questionnaires were designed to cover major potential risk factors, such as age, gender, ethnicity, contact with companion animals, livestock, or wild animals, bites from insects or animal, economical status, among other factors. Based on multivariate logistic regression, bloodstream infection with B. henselae or B. clarridgeiae was associated with cat contact (adjusted OR: 3.4, 95% CI: 1.1-9.6) or history of tick bite (adjusted OR: 3.7, 95% CI: 1.3-13.4). These risk factors should be considered during donor screening, as bacteremia by these Bartonella species may not be detected by traditional laboratory screening methods, and it may be transmitted by blood transfusion.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Pedro Paulo Vissotto de Paiva
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Diniz
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, State University of Campinas, Medical School (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo Eduardo Neves Ferreira
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Velho
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, State University of Campinas, Medical School (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiza Helena Urso
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Pitassi
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, State University of Campinas, Medical School (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marina Rovani
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Drummond
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, State University of Campinas, Medical School (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruno Grosselli
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Lania
authors.affiliation: Hematologia e Hemoterapia (HEMOCENTRO), Department of Medicine, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Lourdes
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Barjas-Castro
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sowy
authors.affiliation: Intracellular Pathogens Research Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Edward B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Breitschwerdt
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.|Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, West Indies.
authors.forename: Diana Gerardi
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Scorpio
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016470:Bacteremia; D001473:Bartonella / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001474:Bartonella Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002415:Cats; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D012307:Risk Factors; D015047:Zoonoses