Disease by hurt of cat

The disease by cat scratch (E.A.G.) is a disease that can suffer people of any age. The disease affects the hands as a result of scratches of the cat; there is located erosion, hypertherm and adenopatias. If the patient has cellular immunodeficiency the disease can become sistémica and it is looked like a virosis. The disease is not lethal.

Before one thought that the germ cause of the disease was a bacterium and until it does few years thought that rickettsia is produced by one, although recent studies have confirmed that are one bartonella.

The EAG is little well-known a zoonósica disease. It is possible to be defined as transmitted a benign and autolimitante regional linfoadenopatía to the children by the cats through scratches. Atípicas mycobacteria, chlamidias and herpesvirus have been some of the many microorganisms incriminados in the EAG.
Serológicos and microbiological studies have been made in human patients and their cats, without being able to demonstrate nothing conclusive.

Therefore, it is not known:

* if the EAG is caused by one or by many different agents

* if a specific vector of the causal agent is the cat

* if the critical fact so that this disease takes place is simply a percutánea stab wound.

Without a doubt, the finding of a small bacterium in the lymphatic ganglia of many human patients with the EAG, throws new light on this zoonosis.

CLINIC

Most of the informed cases they have suffered it young and in general they began with the scratch of a kitten. The cutaneous injuries by scratch of cats were justified in more of the 754 of the cases but the rest had to scratches caused by other species as well as by an ample variety of sharp objects (superficial wound by strange bodies).

Half of the patients develops a primary injury in the site of the inoculation (arm or hand), consisting of one pápula escamosa, soft, nonpruriginosa, covered by a small vesicle or escara, seemed to the puncture of an insect. After 3 to 28 days of the scratch the linfadenopatía in the region is verified that drains the inoculation place. Most normal it is than a lymphatic ganglion of evident form, soft tact is affected only and with support of eritema in the skin that covers it, not abservando línfangitis between the primary injury and the affected lymphatic ganglion.

The lymphatic ganglion to oxilar is affected, following to him cervical, preauricular lymphatic the ganglia, pitrocleares, femorales or inguinales in a side of the body. The majority measures of 0 ' 7 to 3 ' 5 cm of diameter and can, in the serious cases, supuran.
Sistémicos symptoms slight resemblances to those of the influenza, happen in the 754 of the patients and with much greater frequency in the children. The softening of the ganglia sends gradually but the enlargement and induración can persist weeks or months.

In certain cases the disease can have much more gravity. Therefore the oculo-glandular syndrome of Parinaud appears when the agent cause of the EAG inoculates accidentally in the palpebral conjuntiva through contact with the hand contaminated after touching to a cat, being developed then a granulomatosa conjuntivitis with hipertrofia of the preauricular lymphatic ganglion. Sometimes, it can exist serious neurological manifestations (encefalitis, convulsions and comma) between 7 and 42 days after to have detected the initial symptoms.
Also respiratory, cutaneous and bony complications have been described.

Author: MV Andres Flores
aflores@veterinaria.org
www.veterinaria.org

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