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. 2023 Oct 3;11(10):2485.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11102485.

Clinical and Epidemiological Aspects of Acute Q Fever in Reunion Island over Fourteen Years: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Alexandra Aubin  1 , Carole Eldin  2   3 , Naël Zemali  4 , Julien Jaubert  4 , Yatrika Koumar  1 , Marie-Pierre Moiton  5 , Patrice Poubeau  1 , Eric Braunberger  6 , Patrick Gérardin  7 , Antoine Bertolotti  1   7
Affiliations

Clinical and Epidemiological Aspects of Acute Q Fever in Reunion Island over Fourteen Years: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Alexandra Aubin et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

The clinical characteristics and epidemiology of Q fever in the Tropics are poorly described. We performed a retrospective cohort study of hospitalized cases between 2004 and 2017 in Reunion Island. Acute Q fever was defined in presence of a positive serology (phase II IgG ≥ 200 and phase II IgM ≥ 50), or a seroconversion (4-fold increase in phase II IgG between paired samples), or a positive PCR (blood or serum). Forty-two cases matched the diagnostic criteria. The most common clinical manifestations were fever (85.7%) and pulmonary symptoms (61.9%), including pneumonia (45.2%). Ninety percent of the patients were living in a farming area. Cumulative incidence was estimated at 9.3 per 100,000 inhabitants (95%CI: 6.4-12.1) with cases diagnosed yearly all throughout the study period except in 2006. Together with the seroprevalence figures, these data suggest that Q fever reaches low to moderate endemic levels on Reunion Island. As previously reported, pulmonary symptoms are in the foreground.

Keywords: Coxiella burnetii; Reunion Island; acute Q fever; livestock; pneumonia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study population for Q fever on Reunion Island, 2004–2017.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Temporo-spatial distribution of Q fever cases in Reunion Island, 2004–2017, with monthly cumulative cases numbers, (Panel A), heatmap of the spatial repartition of cases cumulative incidence rates and ruminants density (Panel B).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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