Q fever: new insights, still many queries

摘要

When Edward Derrick named the illness he described in 1937 as Q (query) fever — ‘until fuller knowledge should allow a better name’ [cited in 4] — little did he know how well the name fits. Some 75 years later, the illness still deserves the name as, in spite of major advances in knowledge about the causative bacterium, reservoirs, routes of transmission and the clinical manifestations of the disease, many queries continue to puzzle clini- cians, microbiologists, public health experts as well as veterinarians. Q fever is a worldwide zoonosis caused by the intracellular bacterium Coxiella burnetii. The most common clinical presentation is an influenza-like illness with varying degrees of pneumonia and hepati- tis [1]. Acute disease is usually self-limiting. However, chronic presentations, most often endocarditis, are life-threatening. Infections in pregnancy may lead to spontaneous abortions or premature delivery, even if the infected pregnant woman herself remains asymp- tomatic [2].