Bartonella spp. antibodies in forensic samples from Swedish heroin addicts

A high frequency of Bartonella elizabethae seropositivity (39%) was recorded among intravenous heroin addicts in Stockholm, Sweden, who died from a lethal injection. Some of the B. elizabethae-seropositive individuals also had antibodies to B. henselae Houston-1, B. grahamii, and B. quintana, but none had antibodies to B. henselae Marseille or B. vinsonii subsp. vinsonii. Hepatitis was a frequent finding but no case had peliosis hepatitis. There was no case of endocarditis, but in three persons active subacute-to-chronic myocarditis was found; two of these cases were Bartonella-positive and HIV-negative.