Q-koorts, een potentieel ernstige ziekte

Three patients with a severe course of Q fever are presented: a 50-year-old woman with Q fever pneumonia leading to respiratory insufficiency, who needed mechanical ventilation, a 51-year-old man with acute Q fever and pre-existing valvular disease necessitating long-term therapy, and a 62-year-old man with an abdominal mycotic aneurysm caused by Coxiella burnettii. These cases illustrate that, although Q fever usually runs a mild course, it may also lead to severe illness. In view of the recent epidemic of Q fever in the southern parts of the Netherlands, physicians will increasingly be faced with these clinical pictures.