Cat scratch disease sepsis in an immunocompromised patient

Abstract

As a greater number of households have pets, the likelihood of zoonotic infections can rise too. Although in most healthy individuals these infections are self-limiting, they are more serious and can lead to adverse outcomes in the immunocompromised. There is minimal information available for the immunocompromised patient who are pet owners or on pet handling. We report a case of cat scratch disease-related sepsis in an immunocompromised patient. This case illustrates the need for a detailed history, including a pet history, in immunocompromised patients presenting with fever of unknown origin and the need for UK-based information for the immunocompromised on pet care and risks associated with having a pet.

Immunocompromised Children and Young Patients Living with Pets: Gaps in Knowledge to Avoid Zoonosis

“…Living with animals has demonstrated benefcial efects in children with chronic medical conditions [1][2][3]; for immunocompromised patients, however, the risk-beneft balance should be discussed individually, as should measures to prevent infections [4]. Although several cases of severe infections in immunocompromised patients transmitted by pets have been documented [8][9][10][11][12], it is unclear to what extent the risk of acquiring infections is increased in this population. Recent studies addressing colonization have reported signifcant rates of parasites, pathogenic bacteria, or multidrugresistant microorganisms colonizing pets, and many arthropods, which are potential vectors of infection, are common to humans and pets [9,28,29].…”

“…In addition, there are considerable biases in the published literature. Cases of zoonosis transmitted from pets to immunocompromised patients have been reported [8][9][10][11][12] although few studies have determined precisely what proportion of human disease is attributable to pets [4,13].…”

Consensus Statement on Animals’ Relationship with Pediatric Oncohematological Patients, on Behalf of Infectious Diseases and Nurse Working Groups of the Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology

“…The incidence of zoonoses in immunocompromised patients is difficult to determine because cases are sporadic and not subject to disease notification [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Lothstein et al reported a 0.86% incidence of zoonoses in 10197 pediatric patients with acute leukemia and 1 death from Cryptosporidium [ 38 ].…”