Clinical and molecular features of one case of human infection with anaplasma phagocytophilum from Podlaskie province in eastern Poland

Abstract

The article focuses on the clinical and laboratory diagnosis of human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in one of 28 patients (3.6%; n=1/28 tested samples) with early Lyme borreliosis. The clinical and laboratory results of a 42-year-old patient fulfilled criteria of confirm anaplasmosis and suggest an acute stage of illness. The described case provides strong presumptive evidence that infection in this patient was acquired with a pathogenic strain of A. phagocytophilum through a tick bite. A positive DNA with PCR for A. phagocytophilum infection was sequenced and analyzed phylogenetically. Physicians should consider the possibility of anaplasmosis in patients with early Lyme borreliosis, and A. phagocytophilum should be considered as a differential diagnosis in all patients from an endemic region of potential high risk factors for tick-borne diseases.