The case fatality ratios of untreated patients exceded 40% but reach around 90% when opportunistic infection with Salmonella spp occurs.

In a recent study the attack rate was 13.8% (123 cases) and the case-fatality rate was 0.7%.

Classically, the first choice treatment has been cloramphenicol 10 mg/kg/day for 10-14 days. But Bartonella bacilliformis is sensible to a lot of antibiotics, including quinolones.

Sobraques M, Maurin M, Birtles RJ, Raoult D. In vitro susceptibilities of four Bartonella bacilliformis strains to 30 antibiotic compounds. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1999; 43:2090-2.

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