Tickborne Relapsing Fever Diagnosis Obscured by Malaria, Togo
Given the prevalence of relapsing fever (RF) in Senegal, this disease may cause illness and death in other areas of West Africa. We performed a cross-sectional, clinic-based study to investigate the presence of RF in Togo during 2002–2004. Blood samples from patients with fever were examined for RF...
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2007-01-01
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doaj-2bc7b1038bb14f72bbcacdb23ec607112020-11-24T21:50:08ZengCenters for Disease Control and PreventionEmerging Infectious Diseases1080-60401080-60592007-01-0113111711710.3201/eid1301.060670Tickborne Relapsing Fever Diagnosis Obscured by Malaria, TogoAnnika NordstrandIgnas BunikisChrister LarssonKodjo TsogbeTom G. SchwanMikael NilssonSven BergströmGiven the prevalence of relapsing fever (RF) in Senegal, this disease may cause illness and death in other areas of West Africa. We performed a cross-sectional, clinic-based study to investigate the presence of RF in Togo during 2002–2004. Blood samples from patients with fever were examined for RF spirochetes by microscopy, PCR, and DNA sequencing of amplicons and for antibodies to the glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase antigen. Although no spirochetes were seen in blood smears, ≈10% of the patients were positive by PCR and ≈13% were seropositive for spirochetes. DNA sequencing demonstrated that Borrelia crocidurae and B. duttonii were present. Most patients were treated for malaria whether or not plasmodia were observed. Thus, many RF patients originally had a misdiagnosis of malaria, which resulted in ineffective treatment. The inability of microscopic analysis to detect spirochetes compared with PCR demonstrates the need for tests with greater sensitivity.https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/13/1/06-0670_articleMalariaBorreliapublic healthWest Africadiagnosticsantimicrobial drug treatment |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Annika Nordstrand Ignas Bunikis Christer Larsson Kodjo Tsogbe Tom G. Schwan Mikael Nilsson Sven Bergström |
spellingShingle |
Annika Nordstrand Ignas Bunikis Christer Larsson Kodjo Tsogbe Tom G. Schwan Mikael Nilsson Sven Bergström Tickborne Relapsing Fever Diagnosis Obscured by Malaria, Togo Emerging Infectious Diseases Malaria Borrelia public health West Africa diagnostics antimicrobial drug treatment |
author_facet |
Annika Nordstrand Ignas Bunikis Christer Larsson Kodjo Tsogbe Tom G. Schwan Mikael Nilsson Sven Bergström |
author_sort |
Annika Nordstrand |
title |
Tickborne Relapsing Fever Diagnosis Obscured by Malaria, Togo |
title_short |
Tickborne Relapsing Fever Diagnosis Obscured by Malaria, Togo |
title_full |
Tickborne Relapsing Fever Diagnosis Obscured by Malaria, Togo |
title_fullStr |
Tickborne Relapsing Fever Diagnosis Obscured by Malaria, Togo |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tickborne Relapsing Fever Diagnosis Obscured by Malaria, Togo |
title_sort |
tickborne relapsing fever diagnosis obscured by malaria, togo |
publisher |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
series |
Emerging Infectious Diseases |
issn |
1080-6040 1080-6059 |
publishDate |
2007-01-01 |
description |
Given the prevalence of relapsing fever (RF) in Senegal, this disease may cause illness and death in other areas of West Africa. We performed a cross-sectional, clinic-based study to investigate the presence of RF in Togo during 2002–2004. Blood samples from patients with fever were examined for RF spirochetes by microscopy, PCR, and DNA sequencing of amplicons and for antibodies to the glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase antigen. Although no spirochetes were seen in blood smears, ≈10% of the patients were positive by PCR and ≈13% were seropositive for spirochetes. DNA sequencing demonstrated that Borrelia crocidurae and B. duttonii were present. Most patients were treated for malaria whether or not plasmodia were observed. Thus, many RF patients originally had a misdiagnosis of malaria, which resulted in ineffective treatment. The inability of microscopic analysis to detect spirochetes compared with PCR demonstrates the need for tests with greater sensitivity. |
topic |
Malaria Borrelia public health West Africa diagnostics antimicrobial drug treatment |
url |
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/13/1/06-0670_article |
work_keys_str_mv |
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