Serologic study of Bartonella sp. infection among human population of Southern Spain

Introduction The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of IgG antibodies against Bartonella sp. in a randomly selected sample from the population of the patients of North Sanitary District of Jaén. Methods We used a commercially available immunofluorescent test (Focus-Technology IFA Bartonella quintana and B. henselae test). Results Six hundred five healthy individuals were divided by sex into three age groups. We detected that 13.55% and 11.07% subjects were IgG seropositive to B. henselae and B. quintana, respectively. Conclusions Our data show that the prevalence of both Bartonella species in Andalusia (Southern Spain) is relatively high. No statistical difference in the seropositivity was observed among these groups. In both cases, the IgG antibody titers ranged from 1/128 to 1/512.