Review article

Q Fever

Boris Dželalija

Abstract

Q fever is an acute, and rarely chronic,
zoonotic disease. It is caused by Coxiella burnetii, an
obligate intracellular, pleomorphic coccobacillus possessing
a prototypic gram-negative bacterial cell wall structure. It
survives unfavourable conditions in the form of endospores
and is extremely resistant to environmental effects. Although
Q fever was primarily a zoonotic disease affecting wild
animals, it has adapted to domestic animals, i.e. sheep,
cattle and recently goats, which are the main sources of
infection for humans. During birthing the organisms are shed
in high numbers within the amniotic fl uids and the placenta.
People are usually infected by inhaling the infected aerosol
(the most common mode of transmission of infection from
animals to people).
Clinical symptoms are manifested in various clinical syndromes,
such as acute disease with elevated temperature,
pneumonia, endocarditis, hepatitis, osteomyelitis, infection
in immunocompromised patients, infection in infants,
infection with dominant neurological manifestations.
Clinical picture, epidemiological anamnesis, x-rays and
laboratory tests are less important in the fi nal diagnosis
of Coxiella burnetii infection than serologic methods
(microagglutination - MA, complement fi xation test - CFT,
microimmunofl uorescence test - m-IF, immunoenzymatic
test - ELISA), isolation of microorganisms or detection of
nucleic acid by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
Tetracyclines (doxycycline) are the antibiotics of choice
in the treatment of Q fever. Macrolides (azithromycin) and
quinolones (ciprofl oxacin) have also proven effi cient.

Keywords

Q fever; C. burnetii; atypical pneumonia

Hrčak ID:

18813

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/18813

Publication date:

26.1.2005.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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