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Article: The cat's me-ow! (cat-scratch disease)
- Article from:
- Medical Update
- Article date:
- November 1, 1993
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Benjamin Franklin Literary & Medical Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A report in the July 1 New England Journal of Medicine clearly identified the role of the bacterium R. henselae in cat-scratch disease and suggested that fleas may be responsible for infecting the animals. It also showed the value of a new blood test for diagnosing the disease.
Eighty-four percent of the patients in the study had R. henselae antibodies in their blood, as did 81 percent of their cats. The researchers also found evidence of the bacterium in fleas taken from two cats owned by one patient.
Sixty patients known to have cat-scratch disease were compared with 56 other cat owners. The study showed the patient group to be more likely than the ...