Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging infectious diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
National Reference laboratory for diagnosis and research on Plague, Tularemia and Q fever, Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging infectious diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Akanlu, Kabudar Ahang, Hamadan, Iran.
PLoS One. 2019 Feb 19;14(2):e0211781. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211781. eCollection 2019.
Q fever is a zoonotic disease of great public health importance in Iran. This disease is presented with high phase I antibody development in chronic and high phase II antibody in the acute form of illness. This study was conducted to evaluate the seroprevalence of Q fever among high-risk occupations in the Ilam province in Western Iran.
In this cross-sectional study, 367 sera samples were collected from five groups comprised of animal husbandry workers, farmers, butchers, slaughterhouse workers, and park rangers. The collected sera were tested for IgG antibodies against Coxiella burnetii using ELISA. The seroprevalence of antibodies against C. burnetii in phase I and II was 24.38% and 26.37%, respectively (i.e., 32.42% overall). Low educational level, living in rural areas, keeping sheep/goats, ages older than 50 years, and a history of arthropod bites positively correlated with increased risk of Q fever infection. Animal husbandry workers (45.13%) were at higher risk of contracting Q fever compared with other occupations in the study (17.11%).
High seroprevalence of C. burnetii among high-risk occupations is a serious challenge in the Ilam province. In addition, the high seroprevalence of endemic Q fever in rural and nomadic areas and a higher concentration of occupations who are directly engaged with livestock demonstrate the critical need for preventive medicine education and training in regards to mitigating risk for disease contraction in susceptible groups.
Q 热是一种具有重要公共卫生意义的人畜共患病，在伊朗。这种疾病在慢性期表现出高一期抗体发育，在疾病急性期表现出高二期抗体。本研究旨在评估伊朗西部伊拉姆省高危职业人群中 Q 热的血清流行率。
在这项横断面研究中，从 5 组人群中采集了 367 份血清样本，包括畜牧业工人、农民、屠夫、屠宰场工人和公园护林员。采集的血清采用 ELISA 法检测抗柯克斯体抗体 IgG。一期和二期抗 C. burnetii 的抗体血清阳性率分别为 24.38%和 26.37%（即总体为 32.42%）。低教育程度、居住在农村地区、饲养绵羊/山羊、年龄大于 50 岁以及有节肢动物叮咬史与 Q 热感染风险增加呈正相关。与研究中的其他职业（17.11%）相比，畜牧业工人（45.13%）感染 Q 热的风险更高。
高危职业人群中 C. burnetii 的高血清阳性率是伊拉姆省面临的一个严重挑战。此外，农村和游牧地区地方性 Q 热的高血清阳性率以及与牲畜直接接触的职业人数较多，表明在易感人群中需要开展预防医学教育和培训，以降低疾病传播的风险。
