The health status of a village population, 7 years after a major Q fever outbreak

Abstract

From 2007 to 2010, The Netherlands experienced a major Q fever outbreak with more than 4000 notifications. Previous studies suggested that Q fever patients could suffer long-term post-infection health impairments, especially fatigue. Our objective was to assess the Coxiella burnetii antibody prevalence and health status including fatigue, and assess their interrelationship in Herpen, a high-incidence village, 7 years after the outbreak began. In 2014, we invited all 2161 adult inhabitants for a questionnaire and a C. burnetii indirect fluorescence antibody assay (IFA). The health status was measured with the Nijmegen Clinical Screening Instrument (NCSI), consisting of eight subdomains including fatigue. Of the 70·1% (1517/2161) participants, 33·8% (513/1517) were IFA positive. Of 147 participants who were IFA positive in 2007, 25 (17%) seroreverted and were now IFA negative. Not positive IFA status, but age