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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 1999, p. 2997-3000, Vol. 37, No. 9
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Outcome of Diagnostic Tests Using Samples from Patients with Culture-Proven Human Monocytic Ehrlichiosis: Implications for Surveillance

James E. Childs,1,* John W. Sumner,1 William L. Nicholson,1 Robert F. Massung,1 Steven M. Standaert,2 and Christopher D. Paddock1

Viral and Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333,1 and Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 372322

Received 5 March 1999/Returned for modification 7 April 1999/Accepted 4 June 1999

We describe the concordance among results from various laboratory tests using samples derived from nine culture-proven cases of human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME) caused by Ehrlichia chaffeensis. A class-specific indirect immunofluorescence assay for immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG, using E. chaffeensis antigen, identified 44 and 33% of the isolation-confirmed HME patients on the basis of samples obtained at initial clinical presentation, respectively; detection of morulae in blood smears was similarly insensitive (22% positive). PCR amplifications of ehrlichial DNA targeting the 16S rRNA gene, the variable-length PCR target gene, and the groESL operon were positive for whole blood specimens obtained from all patients at initial presentation. As most case definitions of HME require a serologic response with compatible illness for a categorization of even probable disease, PCR would have been required to confirm the diagnosis of HME in all nine of these patients without the submission of a convalescent-phase serum sample. These data suggest that many, if not most, cases of HME in patients who present early in the course of the disease may be missed and underscore the limitations of serologically based surveillance systems.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Viral and Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd., MS/G13, Atlanta, GA 30333. Phone: (404) 639-1075. Fax: (404) 639-2778. E-mail: jfc5{at}cdc.gov.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 1999, p. 2997-3000, Vol. 37, No. 9
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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