Prevalence of Chronic Q Fever in Patients with a History of Cardiac Valve Surgery in an Area Where Coxiella burnetii Is Epidemic
Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, 08/03/2012
Kampschreur LM et al. – Screening of high–risk groups is a proper instrument for early detection of chronic Q fever cases. The estimated prevalence of chronic Q fever is 7.8% among seropositive patients with a history of cardiac valve surgery, which is substantially higher than that in nonselected populations but lower than that previously reported. Older age seems to increase vulnerability to chronic Q fever in this population.
