Q fever is a type of fever caused by a rickettsia (a type of micro-organism) called Coxiella burnetti. A small number of people with HIV have been diagnosed with Q fever. Rickettsia are usually contracted by bites from lice, fleas, ticks and mites.

Q fever presents as fever, pneumonia and/or hepatitis and can be successfully treated with standard antibiotics.

Key research

Rivero reported ten cases of Q fever in people with HIV over eight years. Mean age on presentation 29 years and mean CD4 count 240. Four individuals had pneumonia, four had fever, and two had hepatitis. Diagnosis of Q fever was made with antibody testing. Treatment with doxycycline (7) and clarithromycin (3) was successful.

References

Rivero A et al. Q fever in HIV-infected patients. 38^th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, San Diego, abstract I-131, 1998.