Q fever and HIV infection

Abstract

Using the estimated incidence of HIV infection in Marseille, the number of Q fever cases in 1987-1989 was 13 times higher and the clinical expression more frequently symptomatic in the HIV-positive population than in the general one. The prevalence:seroprevalence ratio for Q fever was 1.37% in the HIV-positive group and 0.36% in the blood-donor group. Sera positive for Q fever were confirmed by Western blot analysis in order to minimize cross-reaction. Transmission of Q fever appears to be more frequent in HIV-positive individuals than in the general population; this is not surprising, since Coxiella burnetii lives in the phagolysosome, like other micro-organisms described in immunocompromised hosts. Q fever should be added to the spectrum of diseases that occur more frequently during HIV infection.