Bartonella spp. Bacteremia in Blood Donors from Campinas, Brazil

Abstract

Bartonella species are blood-borne, re-emerging organisms, capable of causing prolonged infection with diverse disease manifestations, from asymptomatic bacteremia to chronic debilitating disease and death. This pathogen can survive for over a month in stored blood. However, its prevalence among blood donors is unknown, and screening of blood supplies for this pathogen is not routinely performed. We investigated Bartonella spp. prevalence in 500 blood donors from Campinas, Brazil, based on a cross-sectional design. Blood samples were inoculated into an enrichment liquid growth medium and sub-inoculated onto blood agar. Liquid culture samples and Gram-negative isolates were tested using a genus specific ITS PCR with amplicons sequenced for species identification. Bartonella henselae and Bartonella quintana antibodies were assayed by indirect immunofluorescence. B. henselae was isolated from six donors (1.2%). Sixteen donors (3.2%) were Bartonella-PCR positive after culture in liquid or on solid media, with 15 donors infected with B. henselae and one donor infected with Bartonella clarridgeiae. Antibodies against B. henselae or B. quintana were found in 16% and 32% of 500 blood donors, respectively. Serology was not associated with infection, with only three of 16 Bartonella-infected subjects seropositive for B. henselae or B. quintana. Bartonella DNA was present in the bloodstream of approximately one out of 30 donors from a major blood bank in South America. Negative serology does not rule out Bartonella spp. infection in healthy subjects. Using a combination of liquid and solid cultures, PCR, and DNA sequencing, this study documents for the first time that Bartonella spp. bacteremia occurs in asymptomatic blood donors. Our findings support further evaluation of Bartonella spp. transmission which can occur through blood transfusions.

Bartonellosis, One Health and all creatures great and small

“…In the natural reservoir host, chronic bacteraemia with a Bartonella species can frequently be detected by blood culture or PCR in outwardly healthy animals . Infection with B. henselae and Bartonella clarridgeiae, species associated with cats and their fleas, has been reported in healthy Brazilian blood donors, suggesting that asymptomatic infection occurs in humans as well as cats, dogs and other animals . In contrast to the reservoir‐adapted host, the microbiological detection of a Bartonella spp.…”

“…2,3 Infection with B. henselae and Bartonella clarridgeiae, species associated with cats and their fleas, has been reported in healthy Brazilian blood donors, suggesting that asymptomatic infection occurs in humans as well as cats, dogs and other animals. 5,7 In contrast to the reservoir-adapted host, the microbiological detection of a Bartonella spp. in a nonreservoir adapted host can be extremely difficult.…”

Rheumatological presentation of Bartonella koehlerae and Bartonella henselae bacteremias

“…and strain type (amplified from blood, enrichment cultures, and breast cyst) is unknown. Persistent and potentially relapsing Bartonella bacteremia is a well-documented phenomenon in reservoir hosts and can occur in healthy [10] or chronically ill humans. [1–2] Therefore, it is possible B koehlerae transmission occurred in 1990 in association with CSD axillary lymphadenopathy.…”

Bartonella Henselae Initial Infection of Mature Human Erythrocytes Observed in Real Time Using Bacterial Endogenous Fluorescence

“…This methodology allows real-time in vivo experimentation and a new possibility to screen donated blood for Bartonella spp. as these bacteria were isolated from 1.2% (6/500) blood donors in Campinas, Brazil [23]. …”