title: Q fever in military and paramilitary personnel in conflict zones: case report and review.
abstract: We present the case of a 44-year-old civilian security officer medically evacuated from Iraq with acalculous cholecystitis and Guillain-Barré syndrome and subsequently found to have acute Q fever. The presenting features of Q fever in military and related personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are reviewed and the use of PCR in early diagnosis of Q fever is discussed. The atypical presentation in this case encourages clinicians to have a low threshold for considering Q fever as part of the differential diagnosis in soldiers and related personnel returning from these areas of high endemicity.
authors.affiliation: Brownlee Centre, Gartnavel General Hospital, Glasgow, United Kingdom. bwhite@nhs.net
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Seaton
mesh_terms: D042101:Acalculous Cholecystitis / Q000175:diagnosis; D000328:Adult; D000346:Afghanistan; D020275:Guillain-Barre Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D011778:Q Fever / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014481:United States; D014857:Warfare