Emerging tick-borne pathogen may cause inflammation in immunosuppressed patients

The emerging tick-borne pathogen Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis may be the cause of a systemic inflammatory syndrome among people with hematologic malignancies or autoimmune diseases, according to researchers from Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden. The infection may be mistaken for recurrence of the underlying disease or an unrelated arteriosclerotic vascular event, which was common among the patients, according to the report in Clinical Infectious Diseases. The researchers compiled data on 11 patients in Europe who were diagnosed with Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis infection. The median age of the patients was 67 years and eight were men. Ten had recently or were currently undergoing an immune suppressive treatment. Fewer than half reported tick exposure. All of the patients had systemic inflammation. All had fever with chills and nightly sweats. The other most common symptom was localized joint and/or muscle pain in eight of the patients. Six of the patients also developed vascular or thromboembolic event,...