Coxiella burnetii Should Not Be Ignored: Two Cases of Q Fever Pneumonia Diagnosed by Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing
Abstract
Background: Q fever is a globally distributed zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii ( C. burnetii ). As an obligate intracellular bacterium, C. burnetii is primarily transmitted from domestic animals to humans, with ticks also serving as potential vectors. The clinical manifestations of Q fever are often nonspecific and highly variable, making its diagnosis particularly challenging. Case Presentation: Two male pneumonia patients were hospitalized in Deqing People’s Hospital, one was 73 years old, and the other one was 30 years old, both of them presented with hyperpyrexia without a clear epidemiological history. However, initial empirical treatment was ineffective and microbiological cultures were all negative, then bronchoscopy was conducted for them and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was sent for metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) test. Ultimately, two patients were diagnosed with Q fever pneumonia, and the symptoms of patients were significantly improved after timely treatment with the special drug doxycycline and moxifloxacin, and lung inflammation in both patients were effectively absorbed in the subsequent follow-up examination. Conclusion: Two cases of Q fever pneumonia were diagnosed through mNGS. As a new detection method, mNGS has advantages in the diagnosis of unknown infectious pathogens. As a zoonotic pathogen, C. burnetii should not be ignored. The One Health approach may be suitable for Q fever prevention and control. Keywords: Q fever,…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a case report, done in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Structural and topological analysis of thiosemicarbazone-based metal complexes: computational and experimental study of bacterial biofilm inhibition and antioxidant activity
- Toward better cures for Mycobacterium abscessus lung disease
- Challenges for global antibiotic regimen planning and establishing antimicrobial resistance targets: implications for the WHO Essential Medicines List and AWaRe antibiotic book dosing
- Design, Synthesis and In vitro Antitubercular Effect of New Chalcone Derivatives Coupled with 1,2,3‐Triazoles: A Computational Docking Techniques
- Upregulation of pmrA, pmrB, pmrC, phoQ, phoP, and arnT genes contributing to resistance to colistin in superbug Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from human clinical samples in Tehran, Iran
- Whole-genome sequencing of clinical isolates of Citrobacter Europaeus in China carrying blaOXA−48 and blaNDM−1
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.