What is the most common presentation of chronic Q fever?

What is the most common presentation of chronic Q fever?

• A. Pneumonia
• B. Endocarditis (weeks to years after acute infection)
• C. Hepatitis
• D. Meningitis

Answer: (B)

Chronic Q fever most commonly presents as endocarditis, usually developing weeks to years after the initial infection. This is especially true in people with preexisting heart valve disease or prosthetic valves, where Coxiella burnetii persists intracellularly and preferentially involves the endocardium, leading to culture-negative endocarditis. Diagnosis often relies on serology showing high phase I IgG titers and imaging that reveals valvular vegetations. While acute Q fever can cause pneumonia or hepatitis, those are more characteristic of the initial illness, not the chronic presentation. Meningitis is not a typical or common chronic manifestation. So the endocarditis presentation is the most frequent and defining form of chronic Q fever.

Chronic Q fever most commonly presents as endocarditis, usually developing weeks to years after the initial infection. This is especially true in people with preexisting heart valve disease or prosthetic valves, where Coxiella burnetii persists intracellularly and preferentially involves the endocardium, leading to culture-negative endocarditis. Diagnosis often relies on serology showing high phase I IgG titers and imaging that reveals valvular vegetations. While acute Q fever can cause pneumonia or hepatitis, those are more characteristic of the initial illness, not the chronic presentation. Meningitis is not a typical or common chronic manifestation. So the endocarditis presentation is the most frequent and defining form of chronic Q fever.