Doctors told about the danger of cat scratch disease

Felinosis is a disease that is transmitted to humans when scratched by cats. Andrey Pozdnyakov, an infectious disease specialist at Invitro, and Olga Mikheeva, chief physician of Vet Union, told Izvestia on April 10 about the danger of injuries from cats.

Mikheeva clarified that the condition is also called "cat scratch disease." This is a special case of bacterial infection Bartonella henselae (bartonellosis). Cats become infected with bartonella through flea bites, contact with flea excrement during fishing.

"Despite the name, the risk of infection for humans is present not only when the skin is damaged by claws, but also when in contact with urine, blood, saliva. In addition, the source of infection can be not only cats, but also dogs or rodents. In this case, the carrier animal may not have any clinical signs of the disease. But in some cases, pets also develop symptoms of infection — fever, enlarged lymph nodes, and soreness when touching the body," she said.

Scratching with claws infected with these bacteria causes felinosis. It is not transmitted from person to person.

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The typical form occurs after a week and a half of infection by a cat and is characterized as follows: red papules appear at the scratch site, sometimes painful, and after the scratch heals, papules may suddenly appear again, Pozdnyakov added.

"A person may not even remember that he was scratched by a cat in this place. In addition, fever, symptoms of intoxication and enlargement of the regional lymph node occur. This is a common form, it is harmless when prescribing treatment. If a person's immune system is weakened, then this bacterium can break into the bloodstream and cause a generalized process involving damage to internal organs and the central nervous system," he said.

Another atypical form is unilateral conjunctivitis, which occurs if saliva from an infected cat gets into the eyes. Atypical forms with generalization of the process, when internal organs are damaged, are dangerous for humans. This disease is treated with antibiotics, and with early and adequately prescribed treatment, the prognosis is favorable.

To prevent infection of both the pets themselves and their owners, Mikheeva recommended that pets should not be allowed to walk freely. Also, even if pets are completely kept at home, they must be treated for ectoparasites (fleas and ticks) all year round.

Earlier, on April 4, Lyubov Stankevich, Director of Laboratory medicine and Production at LabQuest Laboratory, Candidate of Medical Sciences, told Izvestia that against the background of mycoplasma pneumonia, a sick person may develop inflammation of the mucous membrane, which is damaged, and the body subsequently stops coping with new viruses and bacteria. In this case, the disease can begin with the usual symptoms — runny nose, cough, weakness and fever.