Human Pathogens in Body and Head Lice

Fournier, Pierre‐Edouard; Ndihokubwayo, Jean-Bosco; Guidran, Jo; Kelly, Patrick J.; Raoult, Didier

doi:10.3201/eid0812.020111

Cited by 127 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Here, we find that there are more B. quintana in body lice than head lice. This finding could probably be explained through the role played by 30 These differences could be explained by the living conditions in jail in Rwanda and probably, the sample size in this study in Burundi. We have confirmed the presence of B. quintana in body lice in Rwanda and Burundi.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

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Detection of Bartonella quintana in African Body and Head Lice

Sangaré¹,

Boutellis²,

Drali³

et al. 2014

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…We have confirmed the presence of B. quintana in body lice in Rwanda and Burundi. 30 B. quintana has also been detected in body lice from homeless people in Zimbabwe (16.7%, 2/12). 30 This bacterium has not been found in body lice in Tunisia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of Bartonella quintana in African Body and Head Lice

Sangaré¹,

Boutellis²,

Drali³

et al. 2014

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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“…Epidemic typhus is a louse-borne disease caused by Rickettsia prowazekii and endemic typhus caused by Rickettsia typhi is transmitted by fleas (Gunther, 1935;Weissmann, 2005). Epidemic typhus transmitted to humans through the body louse primarily occurs in areas of over population and people with lower socioeconomic condition (Fournier et al, 2002) which favors infestation of the vectors (Azad, 1998). Fever, nausea, muscle pain, and headaches are among the symptoms of epidemic typhus disease.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seroprevalence of typhus fever at the Kality Prison, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Mariam¹,

Gelaw²,

Assefa³

2015

Biomed Res Ther

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Abstract-Background: Peoples living in crowded situations like refugee camps and prisons are highly vulnerable to louse-born typhus infection. The information on the prevalence of louse-borne typhus among prisoners in Ethiopia is limited. Hence, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of typhus among prisoners at the Kality Prison, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: A five-year retrospective study was conducted from February to March 2014. A total of 6104 typhus fever suspected prisoners tested for typhus at the Kality Prison Hospital from 2008 to 2012 were included. Data on the seroprevalence of typhus were abstracted from Kality Prison Laboratory. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS 20 statistical software. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square were computed. In all cases p-values less than 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results: The overall prevalence of typhus fever infection was 26.3%. The prevalence of typhus fever infection was found to be higher among prisoners within the age group of 41-50 years (36.9%) and also among male patients (27.3%). The prevalence of typhus fever infection was higher by the year 2009 (40.7%) and overall in the five-year period the summer (31.8%) and fall (30%) seasons showed higher seroprevalence of typhus. Conclusions: The prevalence of typhus fever infection at Kality prison was high. This high prevalence could be a possible risk for epidemic typhus fever infection within the prison and for the nearby population. Therefore, targeted public health intervention could be important in this high-risk population.

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“…However, there is no strong evidence that head lice are vectors of this organism between human hosts. Moreover, Fournier et al 22 tested 143 head lice from schoolchildren from 8 countries and found no B quintana. We have detected B quintana in head lice from persons without a known concurrent body louse infestation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Update on Emerging Infections: News From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Schroff

2010

Annals of Emergency Medicine

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Human Pathogens in Body and Head Lice

Cited by 127 publications

References 15 publications

Detection of Bartonella quintana in African Body and Head Lice

Detection of Bartonella quintana in African Body and Head Lice

Seroprevalence of typhus fever at the Kality Prison, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Update on Emerging Infections: News From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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