Q Fever

Epidemiology:

• Q Fever is highly infectious by the aerosol route
• Q Fever is rarely transmitted from person to person

Clinical:

• Incubation period is 10-40 days
• Acute infection may be asymptomatic or a self-limited febrile illness
• Symptoms acute illness is not clinically distinct, illness resembles viral respiratory infections or atypical pneumonias
• Chest x-ray evidence of pneumonia is present in up to 50% of cases
• Mortality rate is less than 2%
• Durations of illness is 2 days to 2 weeks

Diagnosis:

• Diagnosis requires serologic confirmation (IFA or ELISA)
• Isolation of the organism is not recommended due to significant hazards from handling bacterial cultures in the laboratory

Patient Isolations:

• Use universal precautions with patients. Patients do not require isolation rooms

Treatment:

• Illness usually resolves without treatment
• Tetracyclines are the antibiotics of choice for more severe illness

Prophylaxis:

• Tetracycline antibiotics are very effective if administered 8 to 12 days AFTER exposure
• Starting prophylaxis immediately after exposure can delay symptom onset but does not prevent illness