Cluster of five children with acute encephalopathy associated with cat-scratch disease in south Florida

Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1995 Oct;14(10):866-9. doi: 10.1097/00006454-199510000-00009.

Abstract

Between August 12 and September 27, 1994, five children in South Florida were hospitalized at a single hospital because of encephalopathy, presenting as status epilepticus, associated with cat-scratch disease (CSD). Diagnoses were confirmed by using an indirect fluorescent antibody test to detect antibody to Bartonella henselae, the causative agent of CSD. These cases represent the first cluster of CSD encephalopathy cases to be recognized in the United States. The patients lived within 7 miles of each other and all reported contact with pet or stray cats before developing regional lymphadenopathy and encephalopathy. All recovered fully. A high proportion of 124 cats from the local area were seropositive (62%) or bacteremic (22%). This study suggests that B. henselae can be associated with geographically focal clusters of CSD encephalitis and should be considered in the evaluation of children with acute encephalopathy.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Domestic
  • Antibodies, Bacterial / analysis*
  • Bartonella henselae / immunology*
  • Bartonella henselae / isolation & purification
  • Cat-Scratch Disease / complications*
  • Cat-Scratch Disease / epidemiology
  • Cats
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Dogs
  • Encephalitis / epidemiology
  • Encephalitis / etiology*
  • Female
  • Florida / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bacterial