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Volume 21, Number 8—August 2015
Research

Differentiation of Acute Q Fever from Other Infections in Patients Presenting to Hospitals, the Netherlands1

Stephan P. KeijmelComments to Author , Elmer Krijger, Corine E. Delsing, Tom Sprong, Marrigje H. Nabuurs-Franssen, and Chantal P. Bleeker-Rovers
Author affiliations: Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands (S.P. Keijmel, E. Krijger, C.P. Bleeker-Rovers); Medical Spectrum Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands (C.E. Delsing); Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital, Nijmegen (T. Sprong, M.H. Nabuurs-Franssen)

Main Article

Table 1

Characteristics for patients with acute Q fever and control group with negative serologic results for Q fever, the Netherlands*

Characteristic Study group Control group p value
No. patients 82 52 NS†
Male sex, no. (%) 53 (65) 38 (73) NS‡
Mean ± SD age, y (range) 52 ± 16 (23–91) 59 ± 16 (19–85) 0.027†
Mean no. days between first day of sickness and presentation 5.5 5.4 NS†
History of lung disease 8/78 (10) 18/51 (35) 0.001‡
Immunocompromised§ 5/81 (6) 13/51 (25) 0.002‡
Valvular dysfunction 8/82 (10) 3/52 (6) NS‡
Valve prosthesis 3/82 (4) 0/52 (0) NS‡
Aneurysm 2/82 (2) 3/52 (6) NS‡
Vascular prosthesis 3/82 (4) 3/52 (6) NS‡
Liver disease 1/82 (1) 1/52 (2) NS‡
Malignancy 2/82 (2) 9/52 (17) 0.002‡
Diabetes 9/82 (11) 7/52 (13) NS‡
Contact with cattle 29/47 (62) 8/20 (40) NS‡
History of smoking 58/74 (78) 25/44 (57) 0.013‡
Alcohol use 17/44 (39) 12/27 (44) NS‡
Illicit drugs 4/35 (11) 0/18 (0) NS‡
Proton pump inhibitors¶ 13/82 (16) 22/52 (42) 0.001‡
Corticosteroids¶ 5/82 (6) 10/51 (20) 0.017‡

*Values are no. positive/no. tested (%) unless otherwise indicated. NS, not significant.
†By Student t-test.
‡By χ2 test.
§Also includes patients using corticosteroids.
¶Only medications that differed significantly between groups is shown.

Main Article

1Preliminary results from this study were presented as a poster (P1851) at the 22th annual European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, March 31–April 3, 2012, London, UK.

Page created: July 14, 2015
Page updated: July 14, 2015
Page reviewed: July 14, 2015
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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