According to Prof Kempf, the knowledge of Bartonella is in general low in the medical community. There is a lot of wrong information is circulating.
Bartonella infections are frequent, but general practitioners are not aware of these infectious diseases. According to Prof Kempf, Bartonella infections can be diagnosed and treated easily. However if you don’t know what to look for, you will not find it. You need to look for endocarditis, swollen lymph nodes and other rare manifestations.
According to Kempf, only immunosuppressed patients need treatment. They can be diagnosed using serological essays, which both have weaknesses and strengths. You can find a 6-10% seroprevalance (anti bodies) in the normal population. In forest workers there are 30% that have antibodies against Bartonella.
He states that infections diseases are worldwide and will get even more important in the future.