Q fever in children.
OBJECTIVE
To describe clinical profiles of Q fever in children.


METHODS
Retrospective study.


METHODS
Tertiary teaching hospital.


METHODS
Thirteen children aged 2 to 14 years, with a mean +/- SD age of 9.6 +/- 3.6 years.


METHODS
Review of the medical records of all children with Q fever admitted from 1986 to 1990. The diagnosis was made by detection of phase II antibodies to Coxiella burnetii by the complement fixation test.


RESULTS
Clinical profiles consisted of a self-limited illness characterized by high fever (mean +/- SD, 39.9 degrees C +/- 0.66 degrees C) of 5 to 10 days' duration (mean +/- SD, 7.4 +/- 1.6 days), constitutional symptoms, and mild liver dysfunction. Eleven patients had gastrointestinal manifestations (vomiting and/or abdominal pain). Respiratory symptoms were not prominent. Most patients had normal or low white blood cell counts, and seven showed a relative increase of band forms. Their erythrocyte sedimentation rates ranged from 8 to 23 mm/h. All patients did well without specific therapy for C burnetii.


CONCLUSIONS
In children with the symptoms described above, tests to detect antibodies to C burnetii should be performed.
Ruiz-Contreras
J
J
Departamento de Pediatriá, Hospital 12 de Octubre, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain.
González Montero
R
R
Ramos Amador
J T
JT
Giancaspro Corradi
E
E
Scarpellini Vera
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D011778:Q Fever / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology