A 14-year-old boy in the US suddenly had hallucinations, paranoia, and thoughts of suicide and murder.
Before that, the patient was an active, cheerful teenager, according to the Journal of Central Nervous System Disease on March 18. In addition to symptoms of hallucinations, paranoia with suicidal and homicidal thoughts, the boy called himself “the son of the devil”.
Scientists from North Carolina State University, treating the patient, said the boy was prescribed aripiprazole for a week by the doctor to reduce suicidal and homicidal thoughts, but the psychotic attacks still did not subside. In the following weeks, the patient became increasingly disturbed, expressing irrational anger and fear, even fearing being assassinated by the cat in the house. The medical team fell into a deadlock because they tried many treatment methods but still failed.
10 months later, the patient’s parents accidentally discovered clues about their son’s strange illness. They discovered red stripes on the boy’s body. They look like stretch marks due to growth, but are actually lesions caused by infection.
In early 2017, blood test results showed that the patient was positive for the bacteria Bartonella henselae, which is often found in cats’ blood. The medical team determined that the boy had been scratched by a cat and infected with the bacteria Bartonella henselae. In fact, the patient’s family has two cats.
Bartonella henselae infection, also known as cat-scratch disease, often causes the patient to have local swelling and lesions. Sometimes, it causes serious problems in the heart and nervous system, leading to periods of confusion and behavioral disorders. In addition to Bartonella henselae, the feline parasite Toxoplasma gondii has also been linked to schizophrenia.
The medical literature has never recorded Bartonella henselae as a cause of mental disorders. From the above case, scientists have the opportunity to further study the relationship between infection and mental illness.
After a course of antibacterial chemotherapy, the 14-year-old is now back to his previous state and physical condition.
