Lotric-Furlan Stanka, Petrovec Miroslav, Avsic-Zupanc Tatjana, Strle Franc
Department of Infectious Diseases, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Scand J Infect Dis. 2004;36(11-12):817-22. doi: 10.1080/00365540410021171.
In order to assess the validity of definitions for human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE), epidemiological, clinical and laboratory findings for 13 patients with confirmed HGE and 21 patients fulfilling criteria for probable HGE were compared. The patients were identified during a prospective study on the aetiology of febrile illness occurring after a tick bite, performed in Slovenia from 1995 to 2002. Significant differences between the 2 groups were found for age of patients, duration of fever before the first examination, and several clinical and laboratory parameters including the occurrence of chills, myalgia, arthralgia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, abnormal liver function tests results, and elevated concentration of C-reactive protein. All the abnormalities were established more often in patients with confirmed HGE than in those with probable HGE. Patients with confirmed HGE exhibited higher geometric mean titre values and higher peak antibody titres to Anaplasma phagocytophilum that developed later in the course of their illness. The differences indicate that in some patients fulfilling criteria for probable HGE the signs and symptoms most probably are not the result of a recent infection with A. phagocytophilum.
为评估人类粒细胞埃立克体病（HGE）定义的有效性，对13例确诊HGE患者和21例符合疑似HGE标准患者的流行病学、临床及实验室检查结果进行了比较。这些患者是在1995年至2002年于斯洛文尼亚开展的一项关于蜱叮咬后发热性疾病病因的前瞻性研究中确定的。两组患者在年龄、首次检查前发热持续时间以及包括寒战、肌痛、关节痛、白细胞减少、血小板减少、肝功能检查结果异常和C反应蛋白浓度升高等多项临床和实验室参数方面存在显著差异。所有这些异常情况在确诊HGE的患者中比疑似HGE的患者中更常见。确诊HGE的患者对嗜吞噬细胞无形体表现出更高的几何平均滴度值和更高的抗体峰值滴度，且这些滴度在病程后期出现。这些差异表明，在一些符合疑似HGE标准的患者中，其体征和症状很可能并非近期嗜吞噬细胞无形体感染的结果。
