1.Q Fever as a Cause of Acute Hepatitis Accompanying Fever.
Hyun Jung LEE ; Ji Hoon KIM ; Eileen L YOON ; Young Sun LEE ; Jong Eun YEON ; Kwan Soo BYUN ; Baek Hui KIM ; Youngjoon RYU
The Korean Journal of Gastroenterology 2011;57(3):189-193
Q fever is a zoonotic infection caused by Coxiella burnetti, which has been previously regarded as an uncommon infectious disease in Korea but is sporadically reported recently. Common manifestations of acute Q fever usually present as influenza-like illness, pneumonia and occasionally hepatitis. Herein, we report 4 cases of acute Q fever as a cause of acute hepatitis and fever. All patients had fever and non-specific symptoms, and laboratory test showed acute hepatitis. Antibody surveys for many virus infections and bacterial cultures were negative. Finally, they were diagnosed acute Q fever by an indirect microimmunofluorescence test. Liver biopsy in 3 patients revealed granuloma including one with typical fibrin-ring. All patients had complete resolution of symptoms and signs with doxycycline treatment. Q fever should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with fever of unknown origin with acute hepatitis in Korea.
Acute Disease
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Adult
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Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use
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Coxiella burnetii/isolation & purification
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Doxycycline/therapeutic use
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Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect
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Hepatitis/*diagnosis/etiology/pathology
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Humans
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Male
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Middle Aged
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Q Fever/complications/diagnosis/drug therapy
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Rifampin/therapeutic use