ArticleEpidemiology and infection2020
Q fever seroprevalence in Australia suggests one in twenty people have been exposed.
Article in Epidemiology and infection, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Global and regional seroprevalence of coxiellosis in small ruminants: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Veterinary medicine and science · 2024Pooled it
- Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support for tropical infections: a scoping review.Journal of intensive care · 2026Review
- Q Fever-Related Community Infections: United States Exposure toPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Coxiella burnetii manipulates the lysosomal protease cathepsin B to facilitate intracellular success.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Diagnosing and Preventing Q Fever in Regional New South Wales, Australia-A Qualitative Exploration of Perspectives of General Practitioners.The Australian journal of rural health · 2025Article
- Exploring patient experiences of illness and diagnostic pathways in self-reported Q fever cases.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Q fever diagnosed using metagenomic next-generation sequencing in Guangdong Province, China.Biosafety and health · 2024Article
- Article
- Acute Q fever in patients with an influenza-like illness in regional New South Wales, Australia.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Cross-Sectional Study of Q Fever Seroprevalence among Blood Donors, Israel, 2021.Emerging infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Case report: a missed case of chronic Q fever infective endocarditis demonstrating the ongoing diagnostic challenges.Access microbiology · 2023Article
- Sex and Gender Differences in Bacterial Infections.Infection and immunity · 2022Review
- An O-Specific Polysaccharide/Tetanus Toxoid Conjugate Vaccine Induces Protection in Guinea Pigs against Virulent Challenge withVaccines · 2022Article
- Profiling Risk Factors for Household and Community Spatiotemporal Clusters of Q Fever Notifications in Queensland between 2002 and 2017.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Seroprevalence of Coxiella burnetii in pig-hunting dogs from north Queensland, Australia.Australian veterinary journal · 2022Article
- Identification of Immunogenic Linear B-Cell Epitopes inPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Q Fever: A troubling disease and a challenging diagnosis.Clinical microbiology newsletter · 2021Article
- Seroprevalence and risk factors of antibodies againstEpidemiology and infection · 2021Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Q fever (caused by Coxiella burnetii) is thought to have an almost world-wide distribution, but few countries have conducted national serosurveys. We measured Q fever seroprevalence using residual sera from diagnostic laboratories across Australia. Individuals aged 1-79 years in 2012-2013 were sampled to be proportional to the population distribution by region, distance from metropolitan areas and gender. A 1/50 serum dilution was tested for the Phase II IgG antibody against C. burnetii by indirect immunofluorescence. We calculated crude seroprevalence estimates by age group and gender, as well as age standardised national and metropolitan/non-metropolitan seroprevalence estimates. Of 2785 sera, 99 tested positive. Age standardised seroprevalence was 5.6% (95% confidence interval (CI 4.5%-6.8%), and similar in metropolitan (5.5%; 95% CI 4.1%-6.9%) and non-metropolitan regions (6.0%; 95%CI 4.0%-8.0%). More males were seropositive (6.9%; 95% CI 5.2%-8.6%) than females (4.2%; 95% CI 2.9%-5.5%) with peak seroprevalence at 50-59 years (9.2%; 95% CI 5.2%-13.3%). Q fever seroprevalence for Australia was higher than expected (especially in metropolitan regions) and higher than estimates from the Netherlands (2.4%; pre-outbreak) and US (3.1%), but lower than for Northern Ireland (12.8%). Robust country-specific seroprevalence estimates, with detailed exposure data, are required to better understand who is at risk and the need for preventive measures.
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