title: Acute Q fever in febrile patients in northwestern of Iran.
abstract: Q fever is an endemic disease in different parts of Iran. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of acute Q fever disease among at-risk individuals in northwestern Iran.
  
  
  
  An etiological study was carried out in 2013 in Tabriz County. A total of 116 individuals who were in contact with livestock and had a nonspecific febrile illness were enrolled in the study. IgG phase II antibodies against Coxiella burnetii were detected using ELISA.
  
  
  
  The prevalence of acute Q fever was 13.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.0, 21.0%). Headache (87.5%) and fatigue and weakness (81.3%) were the dominant clinical characteristics among patients whit acute Q fever. Acute lower respiratory tract infection and chills were poorly associated with acute Q fever. Furthermore, 32% (95% CI: 24, 41%) of participants had a history of previous exposure to Q fever agent (past infection). Consumption of unpasteurized dairy products was a weak risk factor for previous exposure to C. burnetii.
  
  
  
  This study identified patients with acute Q fever in northwestern of Iran. The evidence from this study and previous studies conducted in different regions of Iran support this fact that Q fever is one of the important endemic zoonotic diseases in Iran and needs due attention by clinical physicians and health care system.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, National Reference Laboratory for Plague, Tularemia and Q Fever, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Akanlu, Kabudar-Ahang, Hamadan, Iran.|Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.|Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saber
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Esmaeili
authors.affiliation: Institute of Natural and Mathematical Science, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Golzar
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, National Reference Laboratory for Plague, Tularemia and Q Fever, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Akanlu, Kabudar-Ahang, Hamadan, Iran.|Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Health Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Erfan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ayubi
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz university of Medical Science, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Behrooz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Naghili
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, National Reference Laboratory for Plague, Tularemia and Q Fever, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Akanlu, Kabudar-Ahang, Hamadan, Iran.|Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mostafavi
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D016997:Coxiella burnetii; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology; D006261:Headache / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011778:Q Fever / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007074:Immunoglobulin G