Q fever

Q fever - an acute rickettsial disease characterized by general intoxication, fever and frequent lung lesions. It refers to zoonoses. Infection is possible transmissible, contact, alimentary and air-dust by.

Etiology, pathogenesis. The causative agent is a rickettsia Burnet. Resistant in the external environment. Is not inactivated during drying, it is stored in dairy products after pasteurisation. Infection atriums often is the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract or digestive tract. Ways to determine the infection clinical manifestations. When the air-dust infection occurs bronchi damage and often peribronchial inflammation of lung tissue. Hematogenous affect other organs.

Symptoms within. The incubation period is usually 14-19 days. Disease begins acutely. The body temperature rises to 38-39 C ^{on the} fever lasts 1 to 2 weeks, though in some cases may be delayed up to a month. Characterized by large daily swings of temperature, accompanied by chills and then; muscle aches, headache, soreness of the eyeballs. The skin of the face and neck hyperemic, scleral vessels injected. Observed hypotension, bradycardia. Respiratory symptoms usually appear 3-4-th day of the disease: a dry cough, soreness behind the sternum, dry, and then finely moist rales, rarely revealed shortening of percussion sounds. X-ray changes in the lungs predominantly interstitial (peribronchial) nature, against which some patients having focal infiltrative changes. By the end of the week increased liver and spleen. The period of convalescence is long preserved asthenia; full restoration of disability occurs within 2-4 weeks. There may be a recurrence of the disease. When the diagnosis takes into account stay in endemic areas.

Differentiate from ornithosis, mycoplasmosis, acute pneumonia, leptospirosis, brucellosis, tifoparatifoznyh diseases. The proof is the detection of specific antibodies using RAC.

Treatment. Tetracycline in a daily dose of 0.8-1.2 g or chloramphenicol 2 g / day. During the course of 8-10 days. During the febrile period impose 5% glucose solution or isotonic sodium chloride solution 500-1000 ml / O, assign a complex of vitamins, with the defeat of the lung further recommended oxygen therapy, bronchodilators.

Weather favorable. Ability to work is fully restored.

Prevention. The fight against Q fever in farm animals. Milk from diseased animals should be boiled. According to testimony in the outbreak of Q fever is carried out specific prevention. The patient to others is not dangerous.