| pet-assisted therapy in the nursing home setting: potential for zoonosis. | pet-assisted therapy in the nursing home setting, as a vital component of the eden alternative or human habitat program, is gaining widespread recognition and implementation. programs such as this help to improve the quality of life of nursing home residents by offsetting resident loneliness, helplessness, and boredom. however, use of companion animals (and, frequently, birds and fish) may be associated with the introduction of infectious entities that are normally uncommon in this setting (zoon ... | 2001 | 11391280 |
| [meningoencephalitis with cerebellar involvement associated with coxiella burnetii pneumonia]. | | 2001 | 11396419 |
| [serological cross-reaction among bartonella henselae, chlamydia pneumoniae and coxiella burnetii by indirect fluorescence antibody method]. | we studied the serological cross-reactions among bartonella henselae, chlamydia pneumoniae and coxiella burnetii by indirect fluorescence antibody (ifa) method, using sera from 8 patients with cat scratch disease (csd), 13 patients with c. pneumoniae infection and 12 patients with acute q fever. b. henselae igg antibody was negative in 13 patients with c. pneumoniae infection, and was positive in 3 (titers being 1:64) of 12 patients with q fever, whereas b. henselae igm antibody was negative in ... | 2001 | 11424490 |
| detection of anti-coxiella burnetii antibodies by immunofluorescent technique and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. | | 2001 | 11427746 |
| clinical, epidemiological and epizootic features of q fever in the northern coastal part of croatia from 1989 to 1998. | although q fever is endemic in the northern coastal part of croatia, it usually occurs sporadically. analysis of 58 patients hospitalized for q fever during the last 10-year period (1989-1998) revealed some differences in the clinical manifestation compared to a previous study (1954-1977). most cases of q fever (n = 55; 91%), presented with pneumonia, but no rash was noticed, compared to 46% of patients with q fever developing exanthema in the previous study. the previously observed high seropos ... | 2001 | 11428285 |
| risks factors and prevention of q fever endocarditis. | coxiella burnetii causes acute and chronic q fever. to evaluate the risk factors of development of chronic endocarditis following q fever and to assess the best preventive therapy, a retrospective study of patients diagnosed as having q fever during 1985-2000 was conducted. twelve patients with acute q fever who developed endocarditis and 102 patients with q fever endocarditis were included in the study. when compared to 200 control patients with acute q fever, preexisting valvular disease (p<10 ... | 2001 | 11438895 |
| sexually transmitted q fever. | we report the sexual transmission of coxiella burnetii from a man with occupationally acquired q fever to his wife. fifteen days after coitus, his wife also developed serologically proven acute q fever. c. burnetii dna sequences were detected by polymerase chain reaction (pcr) performed on semen samples obtained from the husband at 4 and 15 months after the onset of acute q fever, but pcr results were variable at 23 months, indicating the presence of few organisms. | 2001 | 11438911 |
| suburban transmission of q fever in french guiana: evidence of a wild reservoir. | the annual incidence of q fever in french guiana was found to have increased in 1996 and was 37/100,000 population over the last 4 years. subsequent investigations in cayenne and its suburbs indicated that a wild reservoir of the bacteria was responsible for the epidemiologic pattern. a case-control study showed that residence near a forest and occupations and activities that result in exposure to aerosols of dusts from the soil are risk factors for q fever. by means of time-series analysis, a s ... | 2001 | 11443552 |
| characterization of a stress-induced alternate sigma factor, rpos, of coxiella burnetii and its expression during the development cycle. | coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular bacterium that resides in an acidified phagolysosome and has a remarkable ability to persist in the extracellular environment. c. burnetii has evolved a developmental cycle that includes at least two morphologic forms, designated large cell variants (lcv) and small cell variants (scv). based on differential protein expression, distinct ultrastructures, and different metabolic activities, we speculated that lcv and scv are similar to typical logarith ... | 2001 | 11447163 |
| a case of q fever manifested solely as meningoencephalitis. | | 2001 | 11453602 |
| bronchiolitis obliterans with organizing pneumonia associated with acute coxiella burnetii infection. | we report the case of a 62-year-old man who developed bronchiolitis obliterans with organizing pneumonia (boop) associated with acute coxiella burnetii infection. the diagnosis of boop was made by fiber-optic transbronchial biopsy. treatment with corticosteroids resulted in rapid clinical improvement and complete resolution of airspace opacities. to the best of our knowledge, this is the first well-documented case of boop associated with c. burnetii infection. this case suggests that this infect ... | 2001 | 11464095 |
| lack of association between kawasaki syndrome and infection with rickettsia conorii, rickettsia typhi, coxiella burnetii or ehrlichia phagocytophila group. | the etiology of kawasaki syndrome (ks) is unknown. rickettsiae, intracellular microorganisms that invade the vascular endothelium, might cause ks. | 2001 | 11465844 |
| causes of caprine abortion: diagnostic assessment of 211 cases (1991-1998). | in an 8-year period, 1991-1998, 217 accessions of caprine abortions were submitted to the california veterinary diagnostic laboratory system. of these 217 submissions, 211 were suitable for examination in this study (6 had insufficient data). infectious agents as the cause of abortions were found in 37% of the cases: bacterial agents were identified in 30.5%, viral agents in 2%, fungal agents in 0.5%, and protozoal agents in 4% of the cases submitted. the most common causes of abortions were chl ... | 2001 | 11482610 |
| infectious etiologies in acute exacerbation of copd. | acute exacerbation (ae) is a frequent episode during the prolonged chronic course of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (copd), which entails significant morbidity and mortality. the purpose of this study was to determine the frequency distribution of infectious etiologies in these episodes. two hundred forty hospitalizations for aecopd were included in a prospective, purely serologically based study. paired sera were obtained for each of the hospitalizations and were tested using immunofluor ... | 2001 | 11502375 |
| phase variation of coxiella burnetii strain priscilla: influence of this phenomenon on biochemical features of its lipopolysaccharide. | during the phase variation of coxiella burnetii, modifications in its lipopolysaccharide (lps) component were investigated. the cloned phase i c. burnetii cells were passed serially in chicken embryo yolk sacs up to the egg passage (ep) 90. the lpss from the cells in eps 3, 12, 21, 40, 60, and 90 were all separated by steric exclusion chromatography into three major populations: the high, intermediate, and low molecular weight fractions, differing one from another in size and chemical compositio ... | 2000 | 11521057 |
| seroprevalence of antibodies to microorganisms known to cause arterial and myocardial damage in patients with or without coronary stenosis. | infections are assumed to play a role in coronary artery disease (cad) and cardiomyopathies. it is unknown whether the seroprevalence of antibodies to these microorganisms is higher in patients with than without cad. the seroprevalence of antibodies to bartonella henselae, borrelia burgdorferi, chlamydia pneumoniae, coxiella burnetii, helicobacter pylori, human granulocytic ehrlichia, leptospira, rickettsia conorii, and treponema pallidum was assessed prospectively in patients with exertional dy ... | 2001 | 11527817 |
| [a case of coxiella burnetii pneumonia in an adult]. | a 49-year-old man visited our hospital complaining of a continuous high-grade fever and cough which had appeared during his stay in indonesia. he was admitted on the same day because his laboratory data showed marked inflammatory changes and his chest radiograph revealed an infiltrative shadow in the right upper lung field. initial treatment with beta-lactams was not effective and both his symptoms and his chest radiograph worsened. however, treatment with erythromycin clearly had an effect. the ... | 2001 | 11530397 |
| whipple's endocarditis: review of the literature and comparisons with q fever, bartonella infection, and blood culture-positive endocarditis. | whipple's disease is a systemic infection sometimes associated with cardiac manifestations. recently, there has been an increase in the number of reported cases of whipple's endocarditis. the purpose of our study was to describe this entity. data from 35 well-described cases of whipple's endocarditis were collected and compared with those of blood culture-positive endocarditis, q fever endocarditis, and bartonella endocarditis. some patients with generalized whipple's disease presented with card ... | 2001 | 11565070 |
| atypical manifestations of chronic q fever. | chronic q fever is uncommon, with the majority of cases manifesting as culture-negative endocarditis. in this report, we describe 3 patients who present with atypical manifestations of chronic q fever. these were a 43-year-old man whose site of chronic q fever was the central nervous system, a 53-year-old woman who underwent coronary angioplasty 6 days before the onset of symptoms of acute q fever and within 4 months had serologic evidence consistent with chronic q fever, and a 66-year-old man w ... | 2001 | 11565075 |
| clinicopathologic aspects of bacterial agents. | bacteria were the first organisms recognized for their potential as agents of bioaggression and the possibility of their use by a terrorist or rogue nation is considered a significant threat. five of the more likely agents (anthrax, plague, tularemia, q fever, and brucellosis) are reviewed with emphasis on their epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and pathology. particular emphasis is given to the presentation of the diseases as they may appear after use in a biowarfare scenario. | 2001 | 11572140 |
| aortic valve endocarditis in a dog due to bartonella clarridgeiae. | we report the first documented case of endocarditis associated with bartonella clarridgeiae in any species. b. clarridgeiae was identified as a possible etiological agent of human cat scratch disease. infective vegetative valvular aortic endocarditis was diagnosed in a 2.5-year-old male neutered boxer. historically, the dog had been diagnosed with a systolic murmur at 16 months of age and underwent balloon valvuloplasty for severe valvular aortic stenosis. six months later, the dog was brought t ... | 2001 | 11574571 |
| the role of infectious agents in pulmonary and systemic vascular disease. | with emphasis on the pulmonary circulation, three general types of vascular disease are discussed: fibroproliferative (atherosclerosis), cellular proliferative (endothelial neoplasms) and inflammatory (granulomatous vasculitis). the causes of these phenotypic responses are invariably multifactorial, but infectious agents including viruses, chlamydia, helicobacter, rickettsia, mycobacteria and other infectious agents have been increasingly implicated in the pathophysiology. the classifications of ... | 2001 | 11583060 |
| [beginning rheumatoid arthritis revealed during bronchiectasis surinfections. value of cyclic antibiotherapy?]. | incidence of symptomatic bronchiectasis (br) occurs in around 2% in patients with late rheumatoid arthritis (ra). its seems that the association br-ra could be a worsening factor for outcome of ra patients. a 58-year-old woman without dry syndrome, suffering from bronchial purulence over one year was admitted to the department of pneumology for hemoptysis and arthritis (knees, ankles, and wrists). three prior episodes of inflammatory articular pain had occurred after transient bronchial purulenc ... | 2001 | 11593157 |
| in vitro susceptibility of coxiella burnetii to linezolid in comparison with its susceptibilities to quinolones, doxycycline, and clarithromycin. | the in vitro susceptibility to linezolid shown by nine greek isolates of coxiella burnetii derived from patients with acute q fever was investigated. mics of linezolid were compared with those of pefloxacin, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, trovafloxacin, doxycycline, and clarithromycin using the shell vial assay. mics of linezolid and clarithromycin ranged from 2 to 4 microg/ml; those of doxycycline, trovafloxacin, and ofloxacin ranged from 1 to 2 microg/ml; those of pefloxacin ranged from 1 to 4 micr ... | 2001 | 11600400 |
| [community acquired pneumonia in patients older than 60 years. incidence of atypical agents and clinical-radiological progression]. | seventy five patients older than 60 years with a community acquired pneumonia followed up in an outpatient clinic, were prospectively studied in order to determine the incidence of atypical agents, clinical-radiological characteristics, progression and the differences with pneumonia in younger patients. | 2001 | 11674968 |
| [characteristics of circulation of a coxiella infection (q fever) pathogen in the natural reservoir of the nizhniĭ novgorod region]. | | 2001 | 11680376 |
| risk of lyme disease: perceptions of residents of a lone star tick-infested community. | lone star ticks (amblyomma americanum) have been suggested as a vector of the agent of lyme disease (borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato) in the usa, based on associations with an infection manifesting mainly as erythema migrans. in laboratory experiments, however, they failed to transmit b. burgdorferi sensu stricto. | 2001 | 11693973 |
| [prosthetic valve endocarditis due to coxiella burnetii: six cases]. | prosthetic valve endocarditis is a dangerous complication of valvular surgery (3-6%). among involved pathogens, coxiella burnetii is an occasional agent, though isolated with increasing frequency. we report our experience with this peculiar endocarditis and lay stress on specific diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties. | 2001 | 11695318 |
| comparison of virulence of coxiella burnetii isolates from bovine milk and from ticks. | laboratory animals (mice and guinea pigs) were infected with the isolates of coxiella burnetii (derrick, 1939) obtained from bovine milk (m18 and m35) and the ticks ixodes ricinus (linnaeus, 1758) and dermacentor marginatus (sulzer, 1776) (kl3 and kl6, respectively), and with the reference strain nine mile. neither mortality nor lethality occurred with the mice. antibody response in mice infected with isolates from milk was lower (1:16-512) than that from ticks (1:32-4096). onset of seropositivi ... | 2001 | 11699660 |
| newer macrolides as empiric treatment for acute q fever infection. | the effectiveness of newer macrolides in acute q fever for 113 patients was recorded. the mean times to defervescence were 2.9 days for doxycycline and 3.3, 3.9, 3.9, and 6.4 days for clarithromycin, roxithromycin, erythromycin, and beta-lactams, respectively (p < 0.01 for macrolides versus beta-lactams). we conclude that macrolides may be an adequate empirical antibiotic therapy for acute q fever. | 2001 | 11709360 |
| [etiology of community-acquired pneumonia in ambulatory patients. usefulness of a diagnostic investigation protocol using detection of streptococcus pneumoniae and legionella pneumophila antigens in urine samples]. | to determine the etiology of community-acquired pneumonia (cap) in ambulatory patients and to assess the efficiency of a diagnostic protocol by using tests to detect bacterial antigens in urine samples. | 2001 | 11734171 |
| hemolytic-uremic syndrome associated with coxiella burnetii infection. | acute q fever most commonly manifests as a self-limited febrile illness, pneumonia or hepatitis. we report the case of a 12-year-old child with documented exposure to sources of coxiella burnetii who was admitted to our hospital because of hemolytic-uremic syndrome. serologic tests established the diagnosis of acute q fever. | 2001 | 11734750 |
| changing epidemiology of q fever in germany, 1947-1999. | the epidemiology of q fever in germany was examined by reviewing relevant studies since 1947 and by analyzing available surveillance data since 1962. the average annual q fever incidence nationwide from 1979 to 1989 was 0.8 per million and from 1990 to 1999, 1.4 per million. the mean annual incidence from 1979 to 1999 ranged from a minimum of 0.1 per million in several northern states to 3.1 per million in baden-württemberg, in the south. we identified 40 documented outbreaks since 1947; in 24 o ... | 2001 | 11747689 |
| influence of three types of farm management on the seroprevalence of q fever as assessed by an indirect immunofluorescence assay. | the influence of three types of farm management on the occurrence of q fever in cattle was investigated by means of a serological study carried out in irpinia in southern italy. twenty-one herds were permanently housed, 26 were housed in winter and turned out to graze in the spring, and six herds were kept outdoors throughout the year. blood samples were taken from 1188 cattle and tested by an indirect immunofluorescence assay. the overall seroprevalence of q fever was 14.4 per cent. the herds w ... | 2001 | 11765323 |
| [attempt of estimation of q fever endocarditis frequency in poland]. | up to now no q fever endocarditis (caused by rickettsia coxiella burnetii) has been diagnosed in poland. potential endocarditis caused by coxiella burnetii strains can be related to a group of strains present in poland or sensitivity of polish population. the aim of the study was to estimate frequency of q fever endocarditis is patients of national institute of cardiology and to characterize coxiella burnetii strains and correlation between frequency of q fever endocarditis and the group of stra ... | 2001 | 11769382 |
| isolation and evaluation of coxiella burnetii o-polysaccharide antigen as an immunodiagnostic reagent. | a lipid a - deprived lipopolysaccharide (lps) from coxiella burnetii (c.b.) priscilla strain in virulent phase i was separated by steric-exclusion chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography (hplc). the isolated o-specific polysaccharide (ps) fractions were analyzed by different physico-chemical methods and showed noticeable differences in their overall composition. the antigenic potential of the ps fractions was evaluated by elisa with animal and human sera and in comparison with ... | 2001 | 11774896 |
| [coxiella burnetii pneumopathy on return from french guiana]. | q fever is a worldwide zoonosis but is not often a common cause of fever among travellers returning from the tropics. we report a case of acute q fever, revealed by a pneumonia and acquired by a traveller in french guyana. the chest radiography showed alveolar opacities and pleural effusion. biological abnormalities were elevated liver enzyme levels and thrombocytopenia. the patient improved or the third day of antibiotic treatment. she mentioned that 3 other people she lived with during her tri ... | 2000 | 11775317 |
| shedding of coxiella burnetii in ewes in two pregnancies following an episode of coxiella abortion in a sheep flock. | coxiella burnetii infection in pregnant sheep typically causes abortion or the birth of weak lambs. two c. burnetii-related abortions in a group of 34 pregnant ewes were reported at their first lambing in our research institute. the seroprevalence of c. burnetii infection and bacteria shedding were investigated using an elisa and pcr, respectively, during the course of two subsequent pregnancies. none of the ewes examined seroconverted from negative to positive at the time of the second and the ... | 2002 | 11792492 |
| changing clinical presentation of q fever endocarditis. | fifteen cases of q fever endocarditis that occurred in 1999-2000 in southern france are described and compared with 15 cases from the same area reported in 1987. significant decreases were found in the prevalences of heart failure, hepatomegaly, inflammatory syndrome, anemia, leukopenia, and abnormal liver function test results in patients who had q fever endocarditis after 1997. this was probably the result of a reduction in the delay before diagnosis of the disease and of the use of novel, eff ... | 2002 | 11807685 |
| [q fever]. | | 2001 | 11808114 |
| mechanisms of resistance to fluoroquinolones in coxiella burnetii. | mechanisms of resistance to quinolones were investigated in two in vitro dna gyrase mutant coxiella burnetii strains. accumulation of pefloxacin was found to be lower in resistant strains than in susceptible strains. pre-incubation with carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone had no apparent effect on intracellular quinolone fluorescence, indicating that an active efflux mechanism is not responsible for the decrease of pefloxacin accumulation. no differences were detected between the strains af ... | 2002 | 11815583 |
| [hepatic granulomas of infectious origins]. | hepatic granulomas of infectious origin are due to several causes. bacterial and rickettsial infections are the most frequent (mainly tuberculosis, infections due to atypical mycobacteria, q fever). however parasitic and fungal infections may also be involved. histological characteristics of the granuloma are sometimes suggestive of the cause, but the aetiological diagnosis often results from a careful confrontation of clinical, biological, and histological data. one should always have in mind t ... | 2001 | 11842725 |
| q fever endocarditis: over 14 years of surgical experience in a referral center for rickettsioses. | q fever endocarditis caused by coxiella burnetii is the most important etiology of negative blood culture endocarditis. without specific clinical findings, diagnosis is difficult and prevalence of this life-threatening disease is underestimated. | 2002 | 11843510 |
| active immunisation against human tick-borne diseases. | with the development and licensure of a recombinant vaccine for the tick-borne infection lyme disease, more attention has been paid to other vaccines that have been used or are being developed for the prevention of other tick-borne infections. this review highlights vaccine information for lyme borreliosis, tick-borne encephalitis (tbe), rocky mountain spotted fever, tularaemia, query (q) fever, kyasanur forest disease (kfd) and tick paralysis. additionally, discussion on the use of immunisation ... | 2002 | 11849118 |
| microbial etiology of acute community-acquired pneumonia in adult hospitalized patients in yaounde-cameroon. | objective: to determine the microbial etiology of acute community-acquired pneumonia in yaoundé. methods: ninety-one consecutive adult patients admitted to hospital for radiologically confirmed acute community-acquired pneumonia were studied prospectively. sputum microscopy and culture, blood cultures, pneumococcal antigen detection in serum and serologic analysis for agents of atypical pneumonia and for human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) were performed for most patients. results: there were 65 ... | 1997 | 11864102 |
| application of polymerase chain reaction for detection of legionella pneumophila in serum samples. | objective: to apply the polymerase chain reaction (pcr) to serum samples for the rapid diagnosis of legionnaire's disease using the l5sl9 and l5sr93 primers designed to generate a 104-base-pair (bp) fragment from the 5s rna gene of legionella spp. the amplified product was detected by electrophoresis and by hybridization with the l5s-1-specific probe. methods: single specimens of serum obtained from 24 patients with confirmed legionellosis, at different stages of their disease, were tested by pc ... | 1998 | 11864308 |
| diagnosis of acute respiratory tract infections: serology and new methods. | no test is available that can identify all potential pathogens in acute respiratory tract infections. each diagnostic test is associated with limitations with respect to sensitivity and/or specificity and/or speed, and thus a combination of tests has to be used. even so, no etiologic agent is found in 30--60% of cases. the following methods are recommended for use in the routine laboratory for the diagnosis of infections: (1) legionella --- direct immunofluorescence test, culture, serology and a ... | 1996 | 11866798 |
| hepatic fibrin-ring granulomas in granulomatous hepatitis: report of four cases and review of the literature. | the differential diagnosis of hepatic fibrin-ring granulomas includes infective agents (coxiella burneti, cmv, ebv,....), hypersensitivity to medication (allopurinol) and malignancy. | 2001 | 11881318 |
| characterization of the replicator region of megaplasmid ptav3 of paracoccus versutus and search for plasmid-encoded traits. | the replicon of the ptav3 megaplasmid (approx. 400 kb) of paracoccus versutus has been localized to a 4center dot3 kb ecori restriction fragment and its entire nucleotide sequence determined. the g+c content of the entire sequence is 66 mol%, which is within the range (62-66 mol%) previously determined for p. versutus total dna. orf1 encodes a replication initiation protein rep (47.2 kda), which shares substantial similarity with putative proteins of the coxiella burnetii plasmids qph1 and qpdv, ... | 2002 | 11882723 |
| a microbial strategy to multiply in macrophages: the pregnant pause. | humans live in harmony with much of the microbial world, thanks to a sophisticated immune system. as the first line of defense, macrophages engulf, digest, and display foreign material, then recruit specialists to eliminate potential threats. yet infiltrators exist: certain fungi, viruses, parasites, and bacteria thrive within sentinel macrophages. by scrutinizing the life styles of these shrewd microbes, we can deduce how macrophages routinely mount an effective immune response. the bimorphic l ... | 2002 | 11886587 |
| type ivb secretion by intracellular pathogens. | a growing number of pathogens are being found to possess specialized secretion systems which they use in various ways to subvert host defenses. one class, called type iv, are defined as having homology to the conjugal transfer systems of naturally occurring plasmids. it has been proposed that pathogens with type iv secretion systems have acquired and adapted the conjugal transfer systems of plasmids and now use them to export toxins. several well-characterized intracellular pathogens, including ... | 2002 | 11886588 |
| [seroepidemiology of coxiella burnetii in okayama prefecture, japan]. | | 2002 | 11904999 |
| neurological involvement in acute q fever: a report of 29 cases and review of the literature. | q fever is characterized by its clinical polymorphism; neurological involvement has occasionally been described. in the course of acute q fever, neurological manifestations may include aseptic meningitis, encephalitis or encephalomyelitis, and peripheral neuropathy. | 2002 | 11911724 |
| q fever during pregnancy: diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. | q fever, caused by coxiella burnetii, may result in abortions, premature deliveries, and stillbirths in infected pregnant women. | 2002 | 11911725 |
| investigation of a slaughterhouse-related outbreak of q fever in the french alps. | the aim of the study presented here was to describe the different epidemiological methods used to investigate an outbreak of q fever that occurred in the spring of 1996 among inhabitants of briançon, a small town in the french alps. three approaches were used: (i) a comparison between a 2-month exhaustive serological survey among blood donors and a retrospective serological survey performed on frozen plasma collected by the transfusion centre in the spring of 1995; (ii) a serological survey perf ... | 2002 | 11913496 |
| coxiella burnetii infection in c.b-17 scid-bg mice xenotransplanted with fetal bovine tissue. | two from a group of approximately 50 c.b-17 scid-bg mice were examined because of lethargy, dehydration, and rough coat. three months prior to development of clinical signs of disease, mice of this study had been surgically implanted with fetal bovine liver, thymus, and lymph node. at necropsy, marked splenomegaly and mild hepatomegaly were observed in both animals. large areas of necrosis and inflammation, with associated intracytoplasmic granular basophilic inclusions, were observed in histolo ... | 2001 | 11924795 |
| [meningo encephalitis revealing q fever: two cases and a review of the literature]. | q fever is a zoonosis caused by coxiella burnetii. the acute q fever is usually characterized by a self-limited flu-like syndrome, fever, pneumonia and hepatitis. symptoms of the chronic q fever (evolution>3 months) mainly consist of endocarditis with negative culture. focal neurological symptoms are rarely observed. neurological symptoms of acute q fever consist of meningitis or meningo-encephalitis. neurological symptoms of chronic q fever are cerebral embolisms from coxiella burnetii infected ... | 2002 | 11938327 |
| clinically and histologically silent q fever endocarditis accidentally diagnosed by pcr. | a case of q fever endocarditis was diagnosed in a patient with no sign of active endocarditis by performing pcr targeting eubacterial 16s rdna on the resected mitral valve. the diagnosis was confirmed by detection of high levels of anti-coxiella burnetti antibodies, positive immunohistologic analysis of the valve tissue with specific antibodies and culture of c. burnetti from the valve tissue. as this patient had an unexplained aggravation of valve dysfunction, we recommended routine serologic t ... | 2002 | 11952725 |
| nontuberculous spondylodiscitis in children. | forty-two children with nontuberculous spondylodiscitis treated between 1966 and 1997 were reviewed, and the clinical, paraclinical, and therapeutic results are presented. the study shows the difficulties of diagnosis and understanding the pathophysiology of the disease. additional information is provided by new imaging techniques, disc aspiration, and biopsy. the mean age at treatment was 4 years 6 months. the initial clinical presentation was often misleading and the diagnosis was often delaye ... | 2002 | 11961447 |
| tularemia and q fever. | the zoonotic infections caused by francisella tularensis and coxiella burnetii, tularemia and q fever, respectively, are two less commonly encountered clinical illnesses that are becoming increasingly recognized as epidemiologically important human diseases. the prevalence of tularemia and q fever can be positively impacted by increased awareness of the clinical entities that arise from infection by these arthropod-borne organisms. improved recognition of these clinical syndromes will lead to gr ... | 2002 | 11982309 |
| host systemic and local nitric oxide levels do not correlate with rejection of pig proislet xenografts in mice. | the rejection of pig proislet xenografts in mice is a cd4 t cell-dependent process in which macrophages play an important role. to assess the potential for activated macrophages to act as effector cells in xenograft destruction, we have examined the relationship between proislet xenograft rejection, two principal markers of macrophage activation, transcription of inducible nitric oxide synthase (inos) and production of nitric oxide (no), and their temporal relationship to intragraft cytokine gen ... | 2002 | 11983015 |
| seroprevalence of coxiella burnetii in selected populations of domestic ruminants in newfoundland. | the seroprevalence of coxiella burnetii among cattle, sheep, and goats in newfoundland was determined by microimmunofluorescence. seropositivity to phase ii antigen increased in sheep from 3.1% in 1997 to 23.5% in 1999-2000 (p < 0.001). cows (24%) had antibodies to phase i antigen; goats (15.6%) had antibodies to phase ii antigen. seroprevalence of c. burnetii is increasing among sheep. | 2002 | 12001502 |
| [laboratory diagnosis of q-fever with the indirect immunofluorescence test]. | q-fever nowadays presents the most diffuse disease in the world, caused by the microorganisms from the family risckettiacae. this disease is coxiellae burnetii. the laboratory diagnosis of the q-fever can be stated either by the isolation of the causer from the patient material, either by the proving of the specifically antibodies. the serologic diagnostics presents the choile method in q-fever. the aim of this work is to illustrate the results of the detection of the serum in patients with the ... | 2002 | 12014103 |
| epidemiological investigations of abortions due to neospora caninum on swiss dairy farms. | abortions apparently due to neospora caninum in two swiss dairy herds were investigated by means of a pcr and elisa, and other potential causes were eliminated. in addition, a case-control study of 24 case herds and 24 control herds indicated that n caninum-associated abortions were more likely to occur in herds with antibodies to coxiella burnetii (with an odds ratio [or] of 3.38 with a 95 per cent confidence interval [ci] of 1.82 to 6.22), whereas the likelihood was less in herds with antibodi ... | 2002 | 12019533 |
| mouse resident peritoneal macrophages partially control in vitro infection with coxiella burnetii phase ii. | coxiella burnetii, the agent of q fever in man and of coxiellosis in other species, is a small, dimorphic, obligate intracellular bacterium, sheltered within large, acidified, and hydrolase-rich phagosomes. although several primary and established cell lines, macrophage-like cells, and primary macrophages from other species have been infected with c. burnetii, the infection of mouse primary macrophages has not been sufficiently characterized. in this report quantification of dapi (4', 6-diamino- ... | 2002 | 12048028 |
| [an epidemic of q fever in a unit of the yugoslav army during war conditions]. | in an outbreak of q-fever in an army unit lasting 9 days, 20 (13.4%) soldiers had contracted a disease. the outbreak occurred due to the entry of the unit into the focus originated by lambing and pasture of infected sheep. the source of the infection was the contaminated dust from the grassland where the soldiers were training, and they were infected by aerogenic way. in 11 (55%) patients, the disease was manifested as pneumonia that was radiologically confirmed in 7 (35%) patients, while the re ... | 2002 | 12053469 |
| comparative efficacy and immunogenicity of q fever chloroform:methanol residue (cmr) and phase i cellular (q-vax) vaccines in cynomolgus monkeys challenged by aerosol. | preliminary evidence gathered in rodents and livestock suggested that a phase i chloroform:methanol residue (cmr) extracted vaccine was safe and efficacious in protecting these animals from challenge with the obligate phagolysosomal pathogen (coxiella burnetii). prior to the initiation of phase ii studies in human volunteers, we compared, in non-human primates (macaca fascicularis), the efficacy of cmr vaccine with q-vax, a licensed cellular australian q fever vaccine that has been demonstrated ... | 2002 | 12057622 |
| rickettsiella-like bacteria in ixodes woodi (acari: ixodidae). | we examined a parthenogenetic strain of the hard tick ixodes woodi bishopp for the presence of endosymbiotic bacteria. electron microscopic examination revealed the ovarian tissues and malpighian tubules were infected with pleomorphic bacteria. two basic types were observed: a larger granular cell and a smaller condensed cell. cloning and sequence analysis of polymerase chain reaction (pcr) amplified 16s rrna gene yielded a single sequence from bacteria present in i. woodi tissues. phylogenetic ... | 2002 | 12061452 |
| bacterial and fungal aerosols in indoor environment in central and eastern european countries. | studies of indoor bioaerosols conducted in central and eastern european countries, as a result of the scarcity of funding, mostly do not attain the level presented by similar studies in northern america and western europe. for socio-economic reasons, most of the intense studies on indoor bioaerosols in central and eastern european countries were carried out in industrial facilities and have contributed significantly to occupational health science. in contrast, until recently, insufficient of stu ... | 2002 | 12088392 |
| diagnostic methods current best practices and guidelines for identification of difficult-to-culture pathogens in infective endocarditis. | culture-negative endocarditis currently represents a diagnostic challenge for physicians. traditional methods such as histology, serology, and culture have been improved and new molecular techniques have been developed to improve the detection of difficult-to-culture agents. serologic tests for the two most frequent etiologic agents, coxiella burnetii and bartonella spp, should be performed first because they can usually be identified easily in this way. the sensitivity of culture for intracellu ... | 2002 | 12092478 |
| phase variation analysis of coxiella burnetii during serial passage in cell culture by use of monoclonal antibodies. | antigenic changes in coxiella burnetii nine mile strain phase i during serial passages in cell culture were analyzed with three groups of monoclonal antibodies (mabs) against lipopolysaccharide. the mabs of group 1 did not react with organisms that were passaged over five times, and the mabs of group 2 did not react with organisms that were passaged over eight times. the mabs of group 3 reacted with organisms passaged up to 15 times but did not react with phase ii cells. these results suggest th ... | 2002 | 12117996 |
| the probability of severe disease in zoonotic and commensal infections. | cross-species transfers of pathogens (zoonoses) cause some of the most virulent diseases, including anthrax, hantavirus and q fever. zoonotic infections occur when a pathogen moves from its reservoir host species into a secondary host species. similarly, commensal infections often have a primary reservoir location within their hosts' bodies from which they rarely cause disease symptoms, but commensals such as neisseria meningitidis cause severe disease when they cross into a different body compa ... | 2001 | 12123298 |
| fourteen-year seroepidemiological study of zoonoses in a greek village. | a seroepidemiological study carried out in a high-risk village in crete in 1985-1987 and 1998 showed that although the awareness of the people concerning zoonoses had increased during this period, the situation did not improve: there was a significant increase of the spread of seroprevalence in time and space of coxiella burnetii, rickettsia typhi, brucella sp., and entamoeba histolytica. toxoplasma gondii, rickettsia conorii, borrelia burgdorferi, echinococcus granulosus, leishmania sp., and fa ... | 2002 | 12135274 |
| isolation of coxiella burnetii by a centrifugation shell-vial assay from ticks collected in cyprus: detection by nested polymerase chain reaction (pcr) and by pcr-restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses. | ticks are the principal vectors and reservoirs of coxiella burnetii. the identification of isolates is necessary for understanding the clinical diversity of q fever in different geographic areas. this is the first report of isolation of c. burnetii from ticks by the shell-vial assay and by nested polymerase chain reaction (pcr) assay for the detection of this pathogen in ticks. of 141 ticks collected in cyprus (rhipicephalus sanguineus and hyalloma spp.), 10% were found to be infected with c. bu ... | 2002 | 12135275 |
| foci of tick-borne diseases in southwest germany. | presently known tick-borne diseases in germany include lyme borreliosis, tick-borne encephalitis (tbe-virus, western subtype), q-fever, babesiosis and presumably ehrlichiosis. blood samples of 4,368 forestry workers in the state of baden-wuerttemberg (b-w), southwestern germany, were tested for the presence of antibodies against borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, tbe-virus and ehrlichia spp. (genogroup e. phagocytophila). furthermore 12,327 ticks (ixodes ricinus) collected in various areas of b-w ... | 2002 | 12141751 |
| q fever: still a mysterious disease. | | 2002 | 12145387 |
| chronic fatigue following infection by coxiella burnetii (q fever): ten-year follow-up of the 1989 uk outbreak cohort. | some patients exposed to q fever (coxiella burnetii infection) may develop chronic fatigue. | 2002 | 12145392 |
| permeability of coxiella burnetii to ribonucleosides. | knowledge about transport in coxiella burnetii, an obligate phagolysosomal parasite, is incomplete. the authors investigated the capability of isolated, intact, host-free coxiella to transport ribonucleosides while incubated at a ph value typical of lysosomes. because of the low activities and limitations of obtaining experimental quantities of isolated, purified coxiella, incorporation of substrate into nucleic acid was used as a trap for determination of uptake abilities. virulent wild-type (p ... | 2002 | 12177333 |
| nitric oxide inhibits coxiella burnetii replication and parasitophorous vacuole maturation. | nitric oxide is a recognized cytotoxic effector against facultative and obligate intracellular bacteria. this study examined the effect of nitric oxide produced by inducible nitric oxide synthase (inos) up-regulated in response to cytokine stimulation, or by a synthetic nitric oxide donor, on replication of obligately intracellular coxiella burnetii in murine l-929 cells. immunoblotting and nitrite assays revealed that c. burnetii infection of l-929 cells augments expression of inos up-regulated ... | 2002 | 12183564 |
| [acute myocardial failure in a young man: q-fever myocarditis]. | coxiella burnetii myocarditis is a rare but severe clinical form of acute q fever. we report the case of a 40-year-old man hospitalized for acute febrile syndrome. forty-eight hours later, he presented dyspnea, orthopnea, and paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea; cardiac auscultation revealed a third sound and echocardiography showed a diffusely hypokinetic and dilated left ventricle (30% ejection fraction). serological studies showed antibodies against phase-ii c. burnetii antigens (igg titer 1:320 and ... | 2002 | 12199986 |
| evaluation of a novel commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay detecting coxiella burnetii-specific immunoglobulin g for q fever prevaccination screening and diagnosis. | a novel commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) for prevaccination screening and diagnosis of q fever (panbio coxiella burnetii immunoglobulin g [igg] elisa) was compared to the complement fixation test (cft), and the indirect fluorescent-antibody test (ifat) was used to resolve discrepant results between the other two tests. a total of 214 serum samples was tested. the elisa demonstrated a specificity of 96% (46 of 48 samples) and a sensitivity of 71% (95 of 134 samples ... | 2002 | 12202611 |
| doxycycline and chloroquine as treatment for chronic q fever endocarditis. | endocarditis is a rare but severe complication of q fever, an infectious disease caused by the intracellular pathogen coxiella burnetii. heart involvement is the most common clinical presentation of chronic q fever, and it occurs almost invariably in patients with previous valvular disease or artificial valves, and in the immunocompromised host. the optimal treatment of q fever endocarditis is still today debated, and recommended duration of treatment varies from one year to one's lifespan. a ca ... | 2002 | 12217721 |
| coxiella burnetii localizes in a rab7-labeled compartment with autophagic characteristics. | the obligate intracellular bacterium coxiella burnetii, the agent of q fever in humans and of coxiellosis in other animals, survives and replicates within large, acidified, phagolysosome-like vacuoles known to fuse homo- and heterotypically with other vesicles. to further characterize these vacuoles, hela cells were infected with c. burnetii phase ii; 48 h later, bacteria-containing vacuoles were labeled by lysotracker, a marker of acidic compartments, and accumulated monodansylcadaverine and di ... | 2002 | 12228312 |
| acute q fever pericarditis followed by chronic hepatitis in a two-year-old girl. | acute coxiella burnetii infection is most commonly a mild and self-limiting disease with fever, pneumonia and hepatitis. endocarditis is the most frequent clinical presentation of chronic infection. we report a 2-year-old child with q fever who presented with acute pericarditis and cardiac tamponade and who developed a chronic hepatic infection. | 2002 | 12237609 |
| coxiella burnetii plasmid types qpdg and qph1 are closely related and likely identical. | strains and isolates of coxiella burnetii, an obligate intracellular bacterium, carry a single plasmid or a plasmid-homologous sequence integrated into the chromosome. the plasmids qph1, qprs, qpdv and the chromosome-integrated plasmid-homologous region have been completely sequenced, whereas no sequence data are available for the qpdg plasmid. in this study, we used total genomic dna from reference strain c. burnetii dugway 5j108-111 to demonstrate and characterize the qpdg plasmid by pulsed-fi ... | 2002 | 12243893 |
| [microbial warfare and bioterrorism]. | infectious diseases have been used as warfares since ancient times. since the 1920s military organizations have studied bacteria of anthrax, plague, tularemia, botulism, brucelloses, glander, q-fever, and smallpox virus, filo-, arena-, bunyaviruses causing hemorrhagic fever or alphaviruses eliciting encephalitis. these can be dispersed by aerosol. salmonellae, shigellae, vibrio cholerae, distinguished escherichia coli strains are suitable to contaminate food, water, pharmaceutical products. fana ... | 2002 | 12244657 |
| [studies of coxiella burnetii infections in dairy herds with special regard to infections in men]. | investigations of 1167 dairy cows out of 105 herds with fertility disorders on secretion of coxiella burnetii (c. burnetii) by the genitals as well as serological studies of these animals using elisa demonstrated that c. burnetii infections are significantly associated with abortions but not with repeated inseminations without success or vaginal excretions. the demonstration of an increased risk of infections for persons caring for those dairy herds could be shown by a total of 253 serological s ... | 2002 | 12357673 |
| [definitive ability of stamp-staining, antigen-elisa, pcr and cell culture for the detection of coxiella burnetii]. | many assays are used for the detection of the aetiological agent of q fever, coxiella burnetii, i.e. staining according to the method of stamp, capture elisa, pcr or isolation by cell culture. in this study the results of these four assays are compared for their sensitivity and specificity. staining smears according to the method of stamp gave many false positive or false negative results. the capture elisa seems to be a very sensitive assay for the detection of coxiella burnetii but it has a la ... | 2002 | 12357676 |
| coxiella burnetii survival in thp-1 monocytes involves the impairment of phagosome maturation: ifn-gamma mediates its restoration and bacterial killing. | the subversion of microbicidal functions of macrophages by intracellular pathogens is critical for their survival and pathogenicity. the replication of coxiella burnetii, the agent of q fever, in acidic phagolysosomes of nonphagocytic cells has been considered as a paradigm of intracellular life of bacteria. we show in this study that c. burnetii survival in thp-1 monocytes was not related to phagosomal ph because bacterial vacuoles were acidic independently of c. burnetii virulence. in contrast ... | 2002 | 12370385 |
| q-fever, human and animal morbidity in some regions of bosnia and herzegovina, in 2000. | q-fever is a worldwide zoonosis caused by coxiella burnetti. c. burnetti is an obligate intracellular parasite. it lives in phagolysosome of the host cell. by its infection of the sensitive persons develops the acute noncharacteristic disease, which passes noncharacteristically, with the appearance of higher temperature, headache, fever, weakness of the organism or by the appearance of symptoms of the undifferentiated infection of the upper parties of the respiratory system. in the course of the ... | 2002 | 12378856 |
| a seroepidemiological study of the risks of q fever infection in japanese veterinarians. | the causative agent of q fever, a widespread zoonotic disease, is the bacteria coxiella burnetii. although cases of q fever have been documented in countries throughout the world, the prevalence of the disease in japan is not yet known. q fever is a demonstrated occupational hazard to those employed in zoological professions, but the risk to japanese veterinarians has not yet been quantified. in order to evaluate the risk to japanese veterinarians, we performed a serological survey using serum s ... | 2001 | 12380717 |
| analysis of phospholipids from coxiella burnetii by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry. a rapid method for differentiation of virulent phase i and low virulent phase ii cells. | phospholipids extracted from the coxiella burnetii strain nine mile virulent phase i and low-virulent phase ii cells were directly analyzed by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (fab-ms). constant neutral loss (cnl) scanning mass spectra (ms) were acquired to identify various phospholipids within phospholipid classes. phospholipids from the phase i c. burnetii cells were much more complex than those from the phase ii cells. moreover, in the latter, the absence of phospholipids of the phosph ... | 2002 | 12387505 |
| [q fever in pregnancy: a case report and review of the literature]. | endemic occurrence of q fever among persons in close contact with domestic animals is well known in some rural regions of germany. the prevalence of antibodies indicating acute q fever in pregnancy reported in the literature varies between 0.2 % and 4.7 % of the screened population. q fever in pregnancy initially manifests as placentitis and often leads to premature birth (30 %), growth restriction (46 %), spontaneous abortion (22 %) or fetal death in utero (7 %). some impairment of pregnancy is ... | 2002 | 12395293 |
| q fever--california, georgia, pennsylvania, and tennessee, 2000-2001. | q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium coxiella burnetii. the most common reservoirs are domesticated ruminants, primarily cattle, sheep, and goats. humans acquire q fever typically by inhaling aerosols or contaminated dusts derived from infected animals or animal products. its highly infectious nature and aerosol route of transmission make c. burnetii a possible agent of bioterrorism. although up to 60% of initial infections are asymptomatic, acute disease can manifest as a relat ... | 2002 | 12403408 |
| [tick-borne neurological diseases]. | some microorganisms transmitted to man via tick bite are responsible for infections, which can be associated with neuro-meningeal complications. tbe virus is the most frequent virus associated with potentially severe neurological lesions. no treatment is available so far. the most frequent bacterial diseases in which neurological complications may appear are lyme borreliosis, q fever and some rickettsial infections. more recently ehrlichiosis have emerged as new infections that may be associated ... | 2002 | 12407309 |
| cytoskeletal proteins and resident flora. | recent observations demonstrate that enteropathogenetic and enterohaemorrhagic bacteria, as well as other non enteropathogenetic bacteria (listeria, coxiella burnetii), may subvert the host cell cytoskeleton. models from enteropathogenic bacteria demonstrate that cytoskeletal proteins are required for bacteria binding to the enterocytes and that they play a role in the immune response of the host to intestinal bacteria. the cytoskeletal protein family tropomyosins is present in all eukaryotic ce ... | 2002 | 12408437 |
| q fever in children. | q fever is a zoonosis caused by coxiella burnetii. farm animals and pets are the main reservoirs of infection, and transmission to human beings is mainly accomplished through inhalation of contaminated aerosols. this illness is associated with a wide clinical spectrum, from asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic seroconversion to fatal disease. q fever in children has been rarely reported. we reviewed published work on this topic. seroepidemiological studies show that children are frequently exposed ... | 2002 | 12409049 |
| the ascendancy of amblyomma americanum as a vector of pathogens affecting humans in the united states. | until the 1990s, amblyomma americanum was regarded primarily as a nuisance species, but a tick of minor importance as a vector of zoonotic pathogens affecting humans. with the recent discoveries of ehrlichia chaffeensis, ehrlichia ewingii, and "borrelia lonestari," the public health relevance of lone star ticks is no longer in question. during the next 25 years, the number of cases of human disease caused by a. americanum-associated pathogens will probably increase. based on current trajectories ... | 2003 | 12414740 |
| [differentiation of granulomatous lesions in the bone marrow]. | granulomas are an infrequent finding in bone marrow biopsies and may be associated with a broad spectrum of infectious and non-infectious disorders. in this context sarcoidosis generally reveals the highest incidence of such bone marrow lesions. other granulomas may be encountered in drug-induced secondary changes (toxic myelopathy) and in particular also in hiv myelopathy. in these cases the granulomas are small, ill-defined and difficult to recognize. special staining methods are required to d ... | 2002 | 12436300 |
| chromosomal dna deletions explain phenotypic characteristics of two antigenic variants, phase ii and rsa 514 (crazy), of the coxiella burnetii nine mile strain. | after repeated passages through embyronated eggs, the nine mile strain of coxiella burnetii exhibits antigenic variation, a loss of virulence characteristics, and transition to a truncated lipopolysaccharide (lps) structure. in two independently derived strains, nine mile phase ii and rsa 514, these phenotypic changes were accompanied by a large chromosomal deletion (m. h. vodkin and j. c. williams, j. gen. microbiol. 132:2587-2594, 1986). in the work reported here, additional screening of a cos ... | 2002 | 12438347 |