1. Detection of Bartonella quintana in African body and head lice.
- Author
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Sangaré AK, Boutellis A, Drali R, Socolovschi C, Barker SC, Diatta G, Rogier C, Olive MM, Doumbo OK, and Raoult D
- Subjects
- Africa epidemiology, Animals, Bartonella quintana genetics, Child, DNA, Bacterial genetics, DNA, Intergenic genetics, DNA, Intergenic isolation & purification, Female, Humans, Lice Infestations parasitology, Male, Molecular Typing, Pediculus anatomy & histology, Pediculus classification, Pediculus genetics, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Poverty, Prevalence, Trench Fever microbiology, Bartonella quintana isolation & purification, DNA, Bacterial isolation & purification, Lice Infestations epidemiology, Pediculus microbiology, Phylogeny, Trench Fever epidemiology
- Abstract
Currently, the body louse is the only recognized vector of Bartonella quintana, an organism that causes trench fever. In this work, we investigated the prevalence of this bacterium in human lice in different African countries. We tested 616 head lice and 424 body lice from nine African countries using real-time polymerase chain reaction targeting intergenic spacer region 2 and specific B. quintana genes. Overall, B. quintana DNA was found in 54% and 2% of body and head lice, respectively. Our results also show that there are more body lice positive for B. quintana in poor countries, which was determined by the gross domestic product, than in wealthy areas (228/403 versus 0/21, P < 0.001). A similar finding was obtained for head lice (8/226 versus 2/390, P = 0.007). Our findings suggest that head lice in Africa may be infected by B. quintana when patients live in poor economic conditions and are also exposed to body lice., (© The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.)
- Published
- 2014
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