Epidemiological scenario of Q fever hospitalized patients in the Spanish Health System: What’s new

Abstract

A B S T R A C TObjectives: The objective of this study was to assess the epidemiology and burden of Q fever (QF) in Spain. Methods: We designed a retrospective descriptive study using the minimum basic data set in patients admitted to hospitals of the National Health System between 1998 and 2015 with a diagnosis of Q fever (ICD-9: 083.0.). Results: We found 4214 hospitalized patients with a mean age (AESD) of 50.9 AE 19.3 years. The male/ female ratio was 3:1. The incidence rate was between 0.41 and 0.65 cases per 100,000 person-years over the 18-year period. The highest incidence of cases was from March to August (p = 0.024). 21.1% patients had pneumonia, 17.5% had liver disease, and only 3.2% had endocarditis. The average hospital stay was 13.8 days (AE12.8). A total of 117 (2.8%) patients died. The total mean cost of QF is approximately s154,232,779 (s36,600 AE 139,422 per patient). Conclusions: QF is an important zoonosis in Spain with a stable incidence rate and high cost for hospitalization. Older patients have a more severe clinical picture and higher mortality, which can be decreased with early clinical suspicion.

One Health Approach: An Overview of Q Fever in Livestock, Wildlife and Humans in Asturias (Northwestern Spain)

“…Central Asturias is mostly urban, and summer and spring are the seasons when the population spends more leisure time outdoors in nature, thus increasing the possibility of exposure to rural infection sources. In addition, the incidence of Q fever is generally lower under the age of 30 years [7,42], in agreement with the results reported here. Similarly, the incidence is higher in men compared with women [1,7].…”

“…In addition, the incidence of Q fever is generally lower under the age of 30 years [7,42], in agreement with the results reported here. Similarly, the incidence is higher in men compared with women [1,7]. This was also the case in this study, though gender was not identified as an explanatory variable.…”

“…Human Q fever is a public health problem worldwide [ 1 , 7 ]. After the outbreak in the Netherlands (2007–2010), linked to goat farms and involving more than 4000 people [ 2 , 4 ], the efforts devoted to studying this zoonosis have increased significantly.…”

“…After the outbreak in the Netherlands (2007–2010), linked to goat farms and involving more than 4000 people [ 2 , 4 ], the efforts devoted to studying this zoonosis have increased significantly. In Spain, the disease is considered endemic in several regions [ 7 , 8 ]. A systematic review recently conducted [ 9 ] showed significant differences in disease manifestations according to the geographical location.…”

“…In the northern areas of Spain, pneumonia was the predominant symptom, while in the central and southern areas, isolated fever followed by hepatitis was the most frequent clinical form. In Asturias (northern Spain), pneumonia is the main clinical presentation of Q fever [ 10 , 11 , 12 ], and a relatively high risk of exposure to C. burnetii in the population in Asturias has been reported [ 7 , 9 , 11 ]. In fact, the fatality rate associated with C. burnetii infection in the region in the period 1997–2015 (7.69 per 100) was the highest compared to other Spanish regions [ 7 ].…”