I, a 52 year old male, was bitten by the cat four weeks ago. After eleven days I developed a swollen gland in my armpit for which I was given amoxicillin. The gland is now less thick, but how long does it take before it heals again?
Joris Bartstra, journalist with medical diploma
On average six weeks, but it can take up to six months. You’ve been bitten, but we call it cat scratch disease: an infection with the bacteria Bartonella henselae. About 20 percent of cats are infected (often via fleas) and it usually concerns young animals, because over time most cats become immune. That also applies to you by the way; no human has ever contracted cat scratch disease twice. Often you don’t see much inflammation at the site of the bite or scratch, sometimes there are a few pimples. But after about ten days, an inflammation and sometimes an abscess develops somewhere in a lymph node: a breakthrough with drainage of pus. You may be a little sick (fever, headache). Antibiotics help well against this, but the lymph node swelling does not go away sooner. Amoxicillin is also not the recommended drug.
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