Q fever in children.

OBJECTIVE: To describe clinical profiles of Q fever in children.

DESIGN: Retrospective study.

SETTING: Tertiary teaching hospital.

PARTICIPANTS: Thirteen children aged 2 to 14 years, with a mean +/- SD age of 9.6 +/- 3.6 years.

SELECTION PROCEDURES: Review of the medical records of all children with Q fever admitted from 1986 to 1990. The diagnosis was made by detection of phase II antibodies to Coxiella burnetii by the complement fixation test.

MEASUREMENTS/MAIN RESULTS: Clinical profiles consisted of a self-limited illness characterized by high fever (mean +/- SD, 39.9 degrees C +/- 0.66 degrees C) of 5 to 10 days' duration (mean +/- SD, 7.4 +/- 1.6 days), constitutional symptoms, and mild liver dysfunction. Eleven patients had gastrointestinal manifestations (vomiting and/or abdominal pain). Respiratory symptoms were not prominent. Most patients had normal or low white blood cell counts, and seven showed a relative increase of band forms. Their erythrocyte sedimentation rates ranged from 8 to 23 mm/h. All patients did well without specific therapy for C burnetii.

CONCLUSION: In children with the symptoms described above, tests to detect antibodies to C burnetii should be performed.