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Q fever - Symptom

Alternative Names

Query fever

Symptoms:

It usually takes about 20 days after exposure to the bacteria for symptoms to occur. Most cases are mild, yet some severe cases have been reported.

Symptoms of acute Q fever may include:

  • Chest pain with breathing
  • Clay-colored stools
  • Cough
  • Fever
  • Headache
  • Jaundice
  • Muscle pains
  • Rash (not common)
  • Shortness of breath

Symptoms of chronic Q fever may include:

  • Chills
  • Fatigue
  • Night sweats
  • Prolonged fever
  • Shortness of breath

Signs and tests:

The health care provider will suspect Q fever in people who have been exposed to the Coxiella burnetii bacteria who develop:

  • Endocarditis
  • Flu-like symptoms
  • Hepatitis
  • Pneumonia

Q fever is diagnosed with a blood antibody test (serology).

  • Reviewed last on: 9/23/2010
  • David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc., and Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital.

References

Marrie TJ, Raoult D. Coxiella burnetii (Q fever). In: Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, eds. Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2009:chap 189.

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