Practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of patients with Q fever by the Armed Forces Infectious Diseases Society.
This issue in the series Current Topics in Military Tropical Medicine focuses on Q Fever. Q fever is a zoonotic infection caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii. Over 150 confirmed cases have occurred among U.S. military personnel deployed to Iraq since 2007. Acute Q fever is underdiagnosed because of a myriad of possible clinical presentations but typically presents as a flu-like illness. The most common chronic manifestation is endocarditis. Most providers are not familiar with the diagnosis, treatment, or appropriate follow-up of this disease. In order to facilitate the care of patients infected with C. burnetii, the Armed Forces Infectious Diseases Society convened a panel of experts in the field to develop practical guidelines for those caring for infected patients. The recommendations and rationale are reviewed in this article.
Infectious Diseases Service, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Building 7, 1st Floor, 8901 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20889, USA.
Joshua D
JD
Hartzell
Todd
T
Gleeson
Stephanie
S
Scoville
Robert F
RF
Massung
Glenn
G
Wortmann
Gregory J
GJ
Martin
D016997:Coxiella burnetii / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004696:Endocarditis; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq / Q000453:epidemiology; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008887:Military Medicine; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011778:Q Fever / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012955:Societies, Medical