Bartonella quintana

1. Genaral pointsThe genus Bartonella is composed of 21 species, includingB. bacilliformis, species previously classified in Rochalimaeaand Grahamella genus. The genus Bartonella belongs to thealpha proteaobacteria group, close to Brucella, Afipia,Agrobacterium and Rhizobium genus.Bartonella is considered as a facultative intracellularbacterium. In vivo, B. bacilliformis and B. quintana can beobserved in red blood cells in bacteriemic subjects. B.henselae, B. clarridgeiae, B. Koehlerae can be isolated anddetected in blood and red blood cells of bacteremic cats.Those bacteria also demonstrate a tropism for endothelialcells, which is correlated to their capacity to induceangioproliferatives lesions (verruga peruana for B.bacilliformis, and bacillary angiomatosis for B. henselae andB. quintana).2. IntroductionB. quintana was first described during World War I as theetiologic agent of trench fever, occurring among both alliedand German troops. This is considered as a reemergentpathogen in the homeless population. It is responsible forchronic asymptomatic bacteremias, endocarditis, andbacillary angiomatosis.References1. Kostrzewski J. The epidemiology of trench fever. Bull AcadPol Sci (Med) 1949;7:233-63.2. McNee JW, Renshaw A, Brunt EH. "Trench fever" : arelapsing fever occurring with the British forces in France. BrMed J 1916;12:225-34.3. Stein A, Raoult D. Return of trench fever. Lancet 1995;345:450-1.4. Brouqui P, Lascola B, Roux V, Raoult D. Chronic Bartonellaquintana bacteremia in homeless patients. N Engl J Med1999; 340:184-9.