scholarly journals Seroepidemiology ofCoxiella burnetiiInfection and its Frequency as a Cause of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Canada

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J Marrie ◽  
Emidio de Carolis ◽  

The present study tested acute and convalescent serum samples from 788 patients hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia in seven Canadian provinces for antibodies toCoxiella burnetii. One hundred nine patients (13.8%) had antibodies to this microorganism, and seven patients had acute Q fever. Serological evidence of infection withC burnetiiwas present in patients from all seven provinces. Three of the seven cases of acute Q fever were from Manitoba, suggesting that there may be unrecognized cases of Q fever in this province. In addition, a case of acute Q fever in Newfoundland, where there had previously been no reported cases, was noted, although subsequently, an outbreak of Q fever on goat farms has been reported.

2011 ◽  
Vol 140 (7) ◽  
pp. 1304-1308 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. COOPER ◽  
M. GOULLET ◽  
J. MITCHELL ◽  
N. KETHEESAN ◽  
B. GOVAN

SUMMARYThe state of Queensland has the highest incidence of Q fever in Australia. In recent years, there has been an increase in human cases where no contacts with the typical reservoir animals or occupations were reported. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of Coxiella burnetii in Australian native animals and introduced animals in northern and southeastern Queensland. Australian native marsupials sampled included the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) and common northern bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus). Introduced species sampled included dingoes (Canis lupus dingo), cats (Felis catus), foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and pigs (Sus scrofa). Serum samples were tested by ELISA for both phase II and phase I antigens of the organism using an Australian isolate. The serological evidence of C. burnetii infection demonstrated in these species has public health implications due to their increasing movement into residential areas in regional Queensland. This study is the first known investigation of C. burnetii seroprevalence in these species in northern Queensland.


2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 154-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J Marrie ◽  
Emidio de Carolis ◽  
Victor L Yu ◽  
Janet Stout ◽  

BACKGROUND: There has never been a cross-Canada surveillance project to determine the rate ofLegionellaspecies as a cause of community-acquired pneumonia requiring hospitalization and to determine whether there are any regional differences in the rates of Legionnaires' disease in Canada. Anecdotally, Legionnaires' disease is thought to be uncommon in Western Canada.METHODS: From January, 1996 through to October 31, 1997, a prospective study of the etiology of community acquired pneumonia requiring admission to 15 tertiary care hospitals in eight Canadian provinces was conducted. A urine sample from each patient was tested forLegionella pneumophilaserogroup 1 antigen using a commercially available ELISA assay. A culture of sputum or other respiratory specimens for Legionellaceae was carried out at the discretion of the attending physician. Two hundred thirty-four patients had acute and 6-week convalescent serum samples tested for antibodies toL pneumophilaserogroups 1 through 6 using an ELISA method.RESULTS: 28 of the 850 patients (3.2%) had Legionnaires' disease; 18 of 823 (2.1%) were positive forL pneumophilaserogroup 1 by urinary antigen testing. The rate of Legionnaires' disease, based on urinary antigen, at the Halifax site was higher than that at the other sites (seven of 163 patients versus 11 of 660 [P=0.04]). Of the 28 cases of Legionnaires' disease identified using all methods, 11 of 277 patients (3.9%) were enrolled from Western provinces versus 17 of 573 patients (2.9%) from Eastern provinces (P=nonsignificant).CONCLUSIONS: Legionnaires' disease is just as common in Western as in Eastern Canada.L pneumophilaserogroup 1 may be more common in Halifax than at the other sites studied.


2009 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 2690-2692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioanna Spyridaki ◽  
Anna Psaroulaki ◽  
Iosif Vranakis ◽  
Yannis Tselentis ◽  
Achilleas Gikas

ABSTRACT The present article is a study of the in vitro susceptibility of eight Greek Coxiella burnetii isolates, derived from patients with acute Q fever, and two reference strains of Coxiella burnetii to tigecycline. The bacteriostatic activity of tigecycline was compared with those of six other antibiotics using a shell vial assay. The MICs of the examined antibiotics were as follows: tigecycline ranged from 0.25 to 0.5 μg/ml; doxycycline, trovafloxacin, and ofloxacin ranged from 1 to 2 μg/ml; linezolid and clarithromycin ranged from 2 to 4 μg/ml; and ciprofloxacin ranged from 4 to 8 μg/ml. Tigecycline was effective in inhibiting the infection of Vero cells by C. burnetii. No bactericidal activity was observed against C. burnetii at 4 μg/ml.


Author(s):  
Ayse Kilic ◽  
Hakan Kalender

Q fever is a zoonotic disease that occurs worldwide and is caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium Coxiella burnetii. Infected animals are usually asymptomatic, but infection can cause abortion and stillbirth in ruminants. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate prevalance of Coxiella burnetii infection in aborted and nonaborted sheep serum samples in Eastern Anatolia region by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The determine of prevalance in sheep flocks from four provinces (Elazig, Malatya, Tunceli, Bitlis) and tested for anti-C.burnetii antibody detection, by means of Chekit Q fever Elisa kit. 350 serum samples obtained from flocks belonging aborted sheep showed that a total of 56 (16%) were detected seropositivity, whereas 171 serum samples obtained from nonaborted sheep flocks in 13 of the 171 (7.60%) for C.burnetii in seropositivity were observed. Coxiellosis should be considered an important cause of sheep with abortion history and nonaborted in Elazig and neighboring provinces.


2015 ◽  
Vol 119 ◽  
pp. 74-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemma A. Vincent ◽  
Stephen R. Graves ◽  
Jennifer M. Robson ◽  
Chelsea Nguyen ◽  
Hazizul Hussain-Yusuf ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. e241
Author(s):  
S. Petrusevska Marinkovic ◽  
I. Kondova ◽  
A. Anastasovska ◽  
K. Spasovska

1998 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 2301-2307 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. P. Verkooyen ◽  
D. Willemse ◽  
S. C. A. M. Hiep-van Casteren ◽  
S. A. Mousavi Joulandan ◽  
R. J. Snijder ◽  
...  

We prospectively studied 156 patients with a diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia requiring admission. Several respiratory specimens were obtained for the detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae by cell culture and PCR. Three serum samples were obtained from each patient. Serological diagnosis of a C. pneumoniae infection was determined by the microimmunofluorescence (MIF) test, the complement fixation (CF) test, and recombinant lipopolysaccharide (LPS) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA; referred to as the rDNA LPS ELISA). Twenty-three patients (15%) had serological results compatible with acute C. pneumoniae infection; nine (39%) of these subjects were C. pneumoniae PCR positive. Twenty-two patients (14%) had positive PCR results without serological evidence of an acute C. pneumoniae infection. An attempt was made to calculate the sensitivities and specificities of the MIF test, rDNA LPS ELISA, and PCR for the diagnosis of chlamydial community-acquired pneumonia. Several “gold standards” were defined. Generally, the sensitivities of the rDNA LPS ELISA and MIF were comparable, while the sensitivity of the CF test was shown to be very low. Independent of the gold standard used, the best PCR results were obtained with nasopharyngeal specimens. However, the predictive value of a positive C. pneumoniaePCR result for patients with community-acquired pneumonia remains unknown and may be low. Although a widely accepted gold standard is still lacking, the rDNA LPS ELISA may currently be the preferred tool for diagnosing acute respiratory Chlamydia infections in routine clinical practice. However, the MIF test remains the method of choice for determining the prevalence of C. pneumoniaeinfections in a given community.


Author(s):  
Attila Dobos ◽  
István Fodor ◽  
Gerda Kiss ◽  
Miklós Gyuranecz

AbstractQ fever is a disease of high zoonotic potential, but interest in its causative agent is rather low although it causes some public health problems in Hungary. The prevalence of Q fever is highly variable by country. The main reservoirs of the disease are the same domestic ruminant species everywhere, but the epidemiological profile depends on the features of the specific reservoir. The aim of this large-scale study was to demonstrate the importance of Q fever in different species as a possible source for human infection in most regions of Hungary. A total of 851 serum samples from 44 dairy farms, 16 sheep flocks, 4 goat farms and 3 zoos located in different parts of Hungary were tested. The presence of antibodies to Coxiella burnetii was surveyed in dairy cattle (n = 547), goats (n = 71), sheep (n = 200) and zoo animals (n = 33). The animal species tested in Hungary showed different seroprevalence values of C. burnetii infection. Seropositivity by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was found in 258 out of 547 (47.2%) cows and in 69 out of 271 (25.5%) small ruminants, among them in 47 out of 200 (23.5%) sheep and in 22 out of 71 (31.0%) goats. Antibodies to C. burnetii were not detected in zoo animals. Seropositivity was demonstrated in 44 out of 44 (100%) dairy cattle farms, with at least one serum sample found to be positive on each farm. The seropositivity rate of small ruminant farms was 55.0% (11 positive out of 20 tested), with 9 out of 16 (56.3%) sheep flocks and 2 out of 4 (50.0%) goat herds showing seropositivity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. e242558
Author(s):  
Maxwell Braddick ◽  
Marion L Woods ◽  
Suji Prabhaharan

A 29-year-old gravida 2 para 1 woman presented at 29 weeks gestation with fevers, back pain, thrombocytopenia and hepatitis. PCR testing of blood samples detected Coxiella burnetii and paired serology later confirmed the diagnosis of acute Q fever in pregnancy. The patient was treated empirically with oral clarithromycin and experienced a symptomatic and biochemical improvement. Therapy was changed to oral trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole but was complicated by a delayed cutaneous reaction, prompting recommencement of clarithromycin. Therapy continued until delivery of a healthy girl at 39 weeks and 3 days. Q fever in pregnancy is likely under-reported and is associated with the development of chronic infection and obstetric complications. Treatment with clarithromycin is an alternative to trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole in the setting of drug intolerance.


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