Bai Chay Hospital receives and treats a rare case of cat scratch disease

Recently, Bai Chay Hospital has received a case of a 37-year-old male patient, residing in Dong Trieu Town ( Quang Ninh Province) who was bitten by a cat about 50 days before being admitted to the hospital while catching a domestic cat for meat. At the time of examination at Bai Chay Hospital, the patient had a painful swelling of the tip of the third finger on the right side and a painful swollen lymph node about 3x2cm in size in the armpit area of the hand bitten by the cat.

Through clinical and paraclinical examination, the doctors diagnosed the patient with cat scratch disease and monitored the patient for sepsis. The patient was treated with pain relievers, fever reducers, and antibiotics according to the regimen.

Bai Chay Hospital receives and treats rare cat disease cases, picture 1 — Dr. Pham Cong Duc - Head of Tropical Diseases Department, Bai Chay Hospital examines a patient with cat scratch disease.

Cat scratch disease is a worldwide recognized infection caused by the gram-negative bacillus Bartonella henselae. Cats serve as a natural reservoir for Bartonella henselae, and the organism causes erythrocytic bacteremia that can persist for a year or longer in some cats. Infection may occur through scratching or biting a person or by licking an open wound.

According to Dr. CKI. Pham Cong Duc - Head of the Department of Tropical Diseases, Bai Chay Hospital, said: "For cat scratch disease, the bacteria that often cause disease in humans is the intracellular gram-negative bacillus Bartonella henselae. When entering the human body from a cat through a scratch or bite, the bacteria will attack the human body's lymphatic system, causing local lymphadenitis. The patient will have symptoms of swelling, pain, and black scabs at the site of the cat scratch, bite, or lick. After a period of time, the scabs fall off, but the wound does not heal like a normal wound, but remains swollen and edematous. The lymph nodes near the bite area may swell, causing fever, loss of appetite, and headache lasting 2-5 months."

Bai Chay Hospital receives and treats rare cat disease cases, picture 2 — The patient had swelling of the fingertip at the cat bite site and axillary lymph nodes.

“If cat scratch disease is diagnosed by a doctor and treated promptly with antipyretics, pain relievers, and specific antibiotics, the patient’s condition will stabilize. If detected late, the disease can cause serious complications to internal organs causing liver and kidney damage, neurological complications causing encephalitis, epilepsy, eye complications causing blindness… affecting the health and threatening the patient’s life,” said Dr. Duc.

Through the case of the above patient, the doctor at Bai Chay Hospital recommends that people when in contact with animals such as dogs and cats should pay attention to avoid being scratched or bitten by cats, and limit close contact with dogs and cats when the skin is scratched. In addition, when cats scratch, bite, or lick open wounds, wash the wound under running water for 5-10 minutes, use soap or antiseptic solution to wash and clean.

Although the rate of rabies from cats is relatively low, doctors recommend monitoring the sick and dead condition of cats for about 15 days, going to a medical facility for consultation, tetanus or rabies vaccination. In addition, families raising dogs and cats need to proactively vaccinate their dogs and cats against rabies, especially families with children need to know how to protect children from fierce dogs and cats to avoid unfortunate events.

Le Trang

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