Carl Boodman

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• MD FRCPC DTM&H CTropMed®
• PhD Student at Institute of Tropical Medicine

KEY POINTS Bartonella quintana, the causal agent of trench fever, is transmitted by body lice (Pediculus humanus var. corporis). Although B. quintana is notorious for causing disease in the First World War, outbreaks of trench fever have recently occurred in urban populations experiencing homelessness. B. quintana causes culture-negative endocard...

We describe a case of Bartonella quintana endocarditis in an 11-year-old child from Northern Manitoba, Canada. This case demonstrates the neglected endemicity of B. quintana in Northern Canada and highlights the need for improved case finding and elucidation of specific risk factors for B. quintana infection in the Canadian North. Considering B. qu...

Introduction: Bartonella quintana is a louse-borne bacterium that remains a neglected cause of endocarditis in low-resource settings. Our understanding of risk factors, clinical manifestations and treatment of B. quintana endocarditis are biased by older studies from high-income countries. Methods: We searched Pubmed Central, Medline, Scopus, Em...

Background Bartonella quintana is a body louse-borne bacterium causing bacteremia and infective endocarditis. We aimed to describe B. quintana detection among arthropods and their hosts. Methods We searched databases in PubMed Central/MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science from January 1, 1915 (the year of B. quintana discovery) to January 1,...

Bartonella quintana is a louse-borne intracellular bacterium that remains a neglected cause of bacteremia, bacillary angiomatosis, and infective endocarditis among individuals experiencing poverty. In October 2023, Health Canada notified Canadian organ transplantation programs of an outbreak of donor-derived B. quintana infection. From March to Aug...

Introduction From a public health perspective, it is essential to understand the burden of kidney involvement in leptospirosis. We aimed to assess the frequency of acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients with leptospirosis. Methodology This systematic review and meta-analysis included all articles up to 14.08.2024 fr...

Background Adenovirus nephritis is an increasingly recognized complication in adult kidney transplant recipients, characterized by its diverse clinical presentations and diagnostic challenges. This systematic review summarises the clinical profiles and outcomes of adenoviral nephritis in kidney allograft recipients. Methods We conducted a systemat...

Background:Bartonella quintana is a body-louse-borne bacterium. Canadian B. quintana disease has been reported primarily in populations experiencing homelessness and in Indigenous communities with limited access to water. We sought to understand the epidemiology of B. quintana in Canada. Methods: This study combined an analysis of laboratory data f...

Louseborne Bartonella quintana infections in the United States occur almost exclusively among persons experiencing homelessness because of inadequate access to hygiene resources. Homelessness is increasing, and persons experiencing homelessness can be organ donors, despite barriers to receiving donated organs themselves. Recent reports have documen...

Highlights •Melioidosis can involve any part of the body, often together. Since inhalation and percutaneous inoculation routes are the common modes of transmission, lung and skin are the most common sites of involvement. •While some patients present acutely with sepsis and multi-organ failure, others present with a subacute to chronic course charac...

Introduction Melioidosis is a bacterial disease caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, a gram-negative bacillus endemic to parts of Asia and Northern Australia. This study aimed to identify the role of total and differential leucocyte count in predicting 48-h mortality in patients with melioidosis. Methodology This retrospective cohort study include...

Objectives Describe the proportion of people newly living with HIV with sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) before, at, and after HIV diagnosis in Manitoba, Canada. Methods A retrospective cohort study reviewed clinical charts of all 404 people ≥18 years old newly diagnosed with HIV in Manitoba, Canada between 2018 and 2021. S...

We analyzed body lice collected from persons experiencing homelessness in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, during 2020–2021 to confirm vector species and ecotype and to identify louseborne pathogens. Of 556 lice analyzed from 7 persons, 17 louse pools (218 lice) from 1 person were positive for the louseborne bacterium Bartonella quintana.

Background: Manitoba saw the highest number of new HIV diagnoses in the province’s history in 2021 and is the only Canadian province not meeting any of the previous UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets. Our goal was to describe sex differences and syndemic conditions within an incident HIV cohort in Manitoba, and the HIV treatment initiation and undetectable vi...

Dengue is an acute febrile illness endemic to tropical countries and associated with high mortality rates. Despite being a viral infection, there is rampant misuse of antibiotics in patients with dengue because of perceived delay in defervescence and fear of secondary bacterial infections. Therefore, there is a need to establish the average fever d...

Introduction: Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) due to Metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) production are treated with either polymyxins or the novel combination of ceftazidime-avibactam and aztreonam (AA). This study aims to evaluate the 30-day mortality of AA in patients with BSI caused by MBL-CRE infections. Methodology: In this systematic revi...

Bartonella quintana is a louse-borne gram-negative bacillus that remains a poorly characterized cause of bacteremia, fever and infective endocarditis. Due to the link with pediculosis, B. quintana transmission is tied to poverty, conflict, over-crowding and inadequate water access to maintain personal hygiene. Although these risk factors may be pre...

Introduction Scrub typhus is a bacterial mite-borne disease associated with poor clinical outcomes if not treated adequately. The study aimed to compare the time to defervescence, clinical failure, mortality and treatment-related adverse effects of two common drugs (doxycycline and azithromycin) used for its treatment. Methodology This was a syste...

Introduction: Although fosfomycin is currently approved for treating urinary tract infections, it is increasingly be- ing used as salvage therapy for various infectious syn- dromes outside the urinary tract. This systematic review evaluates clinical and microbiological cure rates in pa- tients with bacterial infections not restricted to the uri- na...

Whole blood is the optimal specimen for anaplasmosis diagnosis but might not be available in all cases. We PCR tested serum samples collected in Canada for Anaplasma serology and found 84.8%-95.8% sensitivity and 2.8 average cycle threshold elevation. Serum can be acceptable for detecting Anaplasma spp. when whole blood is unavailable.

Rationale: Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease caused by the spirochete B. burgdorferi, and patients often present with symptoms comparable to a viral-like illness. The diagnosis can be challenging given its wide range of manifestations and diagnostic testing can take days or longer. Here, we present a case of Lyme disease presenting as brachial...

Diagnostic capacity is a key part of public and global health preparedness for newly emerging or spreading infections and the recent global spread of monkeypox illustrates the consequences of inadequate diagnostic capacity. Monkeypox has a syndromic diversity, from asymptomatic infection to isolated skin lesions, to fever and disseminated rash.1,2...

Objective The objective of this study is to provide a direct short-term cost-avoidance analysis of expanded three-time prenatal syphilis screening in the context of Manitoba’s ongoing outbreak.MethodsA conservative modelling approach increased all financial costs of prenatal screening and minimized the direct costs of congenital syphilis treatment....

A 41-year-old female presented to a walk-in clinic 1 day after an acute onset of nausea and severe sharp epigastric pain. The patient’s medical history was notable for Helicobacter pylori infection treated 1 year earlier. Her past surgical history included a remote appendectomy and carpel tunnel release. The patient did not take medications regular...

Background: Bartonella are gram-negative bacilli not identified by routine bacterial culture. The objectives of this study were to review the results of all serologic testing for Bartonella ordered in Manitoba, Canada, and to review cases with positive test results among adults to assess species identification, risk factors, clinical manifestation...

A 63-year-old male with mechanical aortic valve replacement presents with Trichosporon mucoides endocarditis. Eosinophilia was noted, which has recently been described in invasive trichosporonosis. He was treated successfully with combination voriconazole and terbinafine therapy. He was deemed not to be a cardiac surgery candidate, due to excessive...

Introduction In India, the HIV epidemic is concentrated among Key Populations (KPs), such as men who have sex with men (MSM), who bear a disproportionate burden of HIV disease. Conventional targeted interventions (TI) mitigate HIV transmission among MSM by focusing on physical hotspots. As increasingly, there is a shift within India’s MSM community...

Although uncommon, gonococcal endocarditis often causes extensive cardiac destruction and may be fatal without prompt antimicrobial therapy and cardiovascular surgery. Cases of gonococcal endocarditis highlight an abrupt re-emergence of widespread gonococcal disease. As N. gonorrhoeae remains one of the most common causes of arthritis and arthralgi...

Background: Leprosy is uncommon in Canada. However, immigration from leprosy-endemic areas has introduced the infection to a Canadian context, in which most doctors have little knowledge of the disease. Although post-exposure chemoprophylaxis (PEP) is reported to decrease leprosy transmission, no Canadian guidelines advise clinical decision making...

Trichosporon species are urease-positive, non-encapsulated yeasts commonly associated with benign hair and nail infections. Trichosporon species rarely cause endocarditis among both immunocompetent and immunocompromised hosts. To our knowledge, there is only one other published case of prosthetic valve endocarditis due to Trichosporon mucoides....

Here, we describe a case of nosocomial mucormycosis of the thigh in an immunocompromised patient admitted with COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Infection prevention and control measures are used to contain outbreaks of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae. We report the absence of transmission of Klebsiella pneumoniae carrying New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase and oxacillinase-48 genes among 19 screened contacts of an index case after 14 months of routine practices in a long-term care fa...

Tularemia is a zoonotic disease caused by the gram negative coccobacillus Francisella tularensis, a Biosafety Level 3 pathogen and potential agent of bioterrorism. We describe 2 cases of perigenital ulcer disease caused by Francisella tularensis subspecies holarctica in Manitoba, Canada. These cases caused inadvertent exposure among laboratory pers...

Tularemia is a zoonotic disease caused by the gram-negative coccobacillus Francisella tularensis, a Biosafety Level 3 pathogen and potential agent of bioterrorism. We describe 2 cases of perigenital ulcer disease caused by Francisella tularensis subspecies holarctica in Manitoba, Canada. These cases caused inadvertent exposure among laboratory pers...

Appendix 1 (as submitted by authors): Supplementary information Description of three additional patients diagnosed with Bartonella quintana infection in Winnipeg. 3 of the 4 patients presented here are Indigenous. The authors do not intend, even inadvertently, to perpetuate harmful stereotypes of Indigeneity. Instead, we hope these cases remind re...

The ongoing North American epidemic of intravenous opioid and methamphetamine use increases the occurrence of bacteremia from environmental organisms. Here, we report a case of Mycobacterium mucogenicum bacteremia and associated nodular soft tissue infection in a person who uses tap water to inject drugs.

The ongoing North American epidemic of intravenous opioid and methamphetamine use increases the occurrence of bacteremia from environmental organisms. Here, we report a case of Mycobacterium mucogenicum bacteremia and associated nodular soft tissue infection in a person who uses tap water to inject drugs.

1 La sensibilité d’un test dépend du moment du prélèvement de l’échantillon. Le dépistage du coronavirus du syndrome respiratoire aigu sévère 2 (SRAS-CoV-2) repose sur la RT-PCR, soit l’amplification en chaîne par polymérase couplée à une transcription inverse du matériel génétique du SRAS-CoV-21 . La sensibilité de ce type de tests est optimale lo...

Loiasis is a filarial disease endemic to areas of Central and West Africa. We present a case of Loa loa microfilaremia in a patient with HTLV-1-related adult T-cell lymphoma. This case may suggest the possible role of cellular immunity in controlling microfilaria burden.

Background: RT-PCR has become the primary method to diagnose viral diseases, including SARS-CoV-2. RT-PCR detects RNA, not infectious virus, thus its ability to determine duration of infectivity of patients is limited. Infectivity is a critical determinant in informing public health guidelines/interventions. Our goal was to determine the relations...

Background RT-PCR has become the primary method to diagnose viral diseases, including SARS-CoV-2. RT-PCR detects RNA, not infectious virus, thus its ability to determine duration of infectivity of patients is limited. Infectivity is a critical determinant in informing public health guidelines/interventions. Our goal was to determine the relationshi...

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is causing wide-spread interruptions in medical education. With little warning, clinical rotations were cancelled and medical students were sent home. While pre-clinical students transitioned to online curricula, clinical students were left without discreet educational goals. Simultaneously, medical docto...

We report the case of a 64-year-old woman found to have urban-acquired Trypanosoma brucei (T. b.) gambiense human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) as the cause of sustained fever starting 9 months after returning to Canada from Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in the context of concomitant multiple myeloma and human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HI...

Disseminated strongyloidiasis is often fatal, despite treatment with oral albendazole and parenteral ivermectin (IVM). Here, we report elevated plasma IVM and albendazole sulfoxide concentrations in the context of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and continuous renal replacement therapy in a patient with disseminated strongyloidiasis treated wit...

Background: TB is the leading cause of death among patients with HIV worldwide. In Northern Uganda, the rates of TB and HIV are high due to recent conflict and resource limitations. A challenge in the management of TB-HIV co-infection involves rifampin’s induction of cytochrome 3A4 and the ensuing reduction of protease inhibitors (PI) to subtherape...

Impoverished communities often turn to illegal extraction of resources from protected areas to alleviate economic pressures or to make monetary gains. Such practices can cause ecological damage and threaten animal populations. These communities also often face a high disease burden and typically do not have access to affordable health care. Here we...