bartonella henselae

[kenneltech]

A friend of mine has had this disease for 6 years and it has crippled her because they didn't find it for 2 years, until she became critical.  Now she is disabled with multiple symptoms and arthritic diseases.  They have told her that she has already outlived most other people with this devastating disease, and was wondering if anyone else knows anything about the prognosis of this disease.

She shows symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, Sjorgens disease, all the arthritic diseases, joint diseases, etc.  She anemic, and her immune system is compromized.  COPD even though she does not smoke.

Can she live to a ripe old age, as she is becoming very afraid.  Any help would be appreciated.

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
The  symptoms may be non-specific such as fever, malaise, and headache. Most cases of the disease will resolve on their own but in some others, this can lead to complications especially if there are underlying medical conditions present. It can also be overlooked such as from cat scratch ( for cat scratch disease). Stains, cultures and serologic testing can be done  but may sometimes even be non-conclusive. The organisms also may live inside the erythrocytes making this not easy. Best regards.

[kenneltech]

She is not doing well at all. She is 52 years old and is now completely disabled due to the fact that they didn't find what was wrong with her for 9 months, until she almost died!  She has all kinds of different arthritis now, and is on multiple pain medication.  She was seen in a report from a channel 8 news report from Durango, CO when this first happened.  They say she is terminal due to all the complications, but I can't verify this.

But, she is actually living longer than they expected, and I was just wondering why this disease is so hard to detect?

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How is your friend? How old is she? Are there other co-morbid conditions such as hypertension ,diabetes, immunocompromised and other conditions present? Bartonella henselae is responsible for a number of illnesses such as cat scratch disease,bacillary angiomatosis, bacteremia, endocarditis, and peliosis hepatis.  Bacteremia, or bacteria in the blood,can cause blood poisoning, which, if untreated, can lead to multiple organ failure.Any illness caused by B. henselae can usually be completely cured with antibiotics as long as it is caught early enough. In your friend's case, it is best that you talk to her doctors about this because they are in the positions to gauge the severity of the complications and symptoms. The prognosis will depend on this. Take care and do keep us posted.