A 13-year old girl with pancytopenia at the presentation of a Borrelia hispanica infection: a case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND: It is not uncommon that a child with a febrile illness of unknown etiology is admitted to the hospital. When the complete blood count reveals a pancytopenia, the diagnostic process can be a real challenge. CASE PRESENTATION: A 13-year girl of Arab-Berber descent presented with abdominal pain and fever after a holiday in northwestern Morocco. A complete blood count revealed a pancytopenia and blood smear test results revealed spirochetes. Borrelia hispanica was identified by sequencing the 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid gene. Our patient was treated with tetracyclines and during this treatment we saw full clinical and hematological recovery. CONCLUSIONS: Borrelia hispanica is a known cause of tick-borne relapsing fever and is transmitted to humans through the bite of soft ticks of the genus Ornithodoros (Alectorobius). Although the link between tick-borne relapsing fever and thrombocytopenia has been documented, there are only a few case reports of tick-borne relapsing fever presenting with pancytopenia. To the best of our knowledge, there is no previous report of Borrelia hispanica presenting with pancytopenia.