'Cat scratch fever' may cause psychotic symptoms: New study offers more evidence

A line in the 70s song titled "Cat Scratch Fever" that was talking about insanity may be alluding to the real thing. Many did not even care to listen until they started experiencing symptoms. Recent research unearthed more evidence on the link between bacteria, which can infect a person through cat scratches, and psychiatric symptoms.

A study titled, "Bartonella Associated Cutaneous Lesions (BACL) in People with Neuropsychiatric Symptoms," published in the journal Pathogens, offered further evidence in the theory that a bacteria called Bartonella, which gets transmitted through insect bites and cat scratches but more prevalent in the latter, has been linked with psychiatric symptoms.

Researchers studied 33 participants, out of whom 29 were infected with Bartonella bacteria. Twenty-four of the infected participants reported developing stretchmark-like lesions on the skin, which manifested alongside psychological symptoms. The skin lesions were deemed to be a common sign of the disease.

The neuropsychiatric symptoms of the patients have all been self-reported. The symptoms included mental confusion, sleep disorders, anxiety, irritability, headache, and depression.

The researchers were not able to pinpoint exactly how the participants have been exposed to the bacteria. One thing that the majority of the participants noted was that they had close contact with animals like dogs, cats, horses, birds, and even reptiles.

Aside from possibly contracting the bacteria from animals, insects were also known to transmit it. Some of the insects identified by researchers include fleas, lice, bed bugs, mosquitoes, spiders, and scabies mites.

The researchers were also very careful not to definitively state a connection between nervous system disorders and cat-scratch disease. What they highlighted in the study was that Bartonella may contribute to neuropsychiatric symptoms and lesions.

Cat-scratch disease or cat-scratch fever is a bacterial disease that is transmitted by cats. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that when an infected cat would lick an open wound of a person or would bite or scratch a person, and it would break the skin's surface, an infection can occur. The infected area can appear swollen and the person may suffer from headaches, poor appetite, fever, and exhaustion.

Cat scratch fever