Seroprevalence of Coxiella burnetii infection in southern Taiwan
Ko, W.C.; Liang, C.C.; Chen, H.Y.; Chuang, Y.C.
Journal of the Formosan Medical Association 99(1): 33-38
2000
ISSN/ISBN: 0929-6646 PMID: 10743344 Document Number: 525418
A retrospective serosurvey was conducted to examine the prevalence of C. burnetii infection among subjects admitted to a rural hospital in Taiwan for various reasons during June to September 1997, and among presumably healthy attendees of a routine physical examination clinic of an urban public hospital during January to April 1998. The diagnosis of C. burnetii infection required the presence of antibodies to both phase I and II antigens (titre>=1:16) or only to phase II antigens (titre>=1:256), as detected by indirect immunofluorescence assay. The prevalence of C. burnetii infection was 4.2% in both the in-patient (15/357) and physical examination participant (11/259) populations. None of these subjects had signs compatible with acute Q fever (febrile illness within the past 3 months). The antibody prevalence rate was higher in males than in females, and peaked in persons aged 61 to 70 years. These data suggest that C. burnetii infection is not rare in southern Taiwan and does not cause clinical symptoms in all infected patients.