What is Q Fever in Children?
Q fever (also known as Central Asian fever or typhoid fever) is an acute rickettsial disease that is ubiquitous and manifests with frequent central nervous system damage, fever, and the development of specific pneumonia.
On the territory of Russia it is found mainly in the south of the country.
Epidemiology
Under natural conditions, infection is found in many mammals, ticks, birds. Ticks also transmit the disease transviral to their offspring. Temporary carriers of Burnett’s rickettsia are warm-blooded animals. “Pick up” and transfer rickers can pets that become infected by contact with wild animals and from tick bites. A person becomes infected with fever by eating contaminated foods or by drinking the water in which the infection is located. You can get infected by eating eggs, milk produced by an infected animal, etc.
The next route of transmission is airborne. The infection is transmitted with dust, in which there is a discharge of infected animals. This occurs when processing fur, wool, skin, as well as in contact with dogs, cats and other pets infected with rickers.
Healthy people cannot get infected from the patient – this route of transmission is excluded. The main route of infection with ku infection in children is when they use infected milk for food.
Causes of Q Fever in Children
Unlike other rickettsia, the causative agent of fever Coxielfa burneti does not have common antigens with the protein.
Pathogenesis during Q Fever in Children
In the pathological anatomical relation, Q fever is an infectious benign reticuloendotheliosis without the development of endovasculitis. By endovasculitis, inflammation of the inner surface of a blood vessel is understood. Rickersies mainly propagate in the cells of the reticuloendothelial system, and also (slightly less) in the cells of the vascular epithelium and in macrophages.
The greatest changes are caused by rickers in the liver and spleen, cardiovascular system, and lungs.
Symptoms of Q Fever in Children
Clinical manifestations are very polymorphic. From 15 to 20 days, the incubation period lasts on average (the time period from infection with Q-fever to the onset of the first signs). An acute onset is characteristic of Q fever in children, the body temperature becomes high, and weakness and weakness are felt. There is fever, headache and sweating. From the first days of the disease, the following symptoms appear:
- hyperemia of the mucous membranes of the tonsils
- hyperemia of the mucous membranes of the soft palate
- scleral vascular injection
- hyperemia of the face
- puffiness of the face.
In frequent cases, an enanthem occurs. Under enanthema in children, rashes on the mucous membranes are meant.
At the peak of the manifestation of symptoms, bronchitis or tracheobronchitis, tracheitis often happens. There is a likelihood of developing focal pneumonia, in more rare cases, pleuropneumonia. The course of pneumonia is torpid (lethargic, without manifestation of obvious symptoms). Almost 100% of sick children experience symptoms such as mental instability, insomnia, and headache. There is a high probability of the appearance of hallucinations, pain in the eyeballs and muscles. Older children may complain that they have a stomach ache, loose stools. In severe cases of fever in children, the development of serous meningitis, encephalitis is possible.
The main symptom of the disease in question is a prolonged increase in temperature. In almost all cases, the fever is constant or with remissions. The child sweats profusely, often there is chills. Fever can last for several days or 3-4 weeks (also longer in some cases).
The general condition of a sick child with Q fever is satisfactory or moderate during the entire period of the disease. The degree of damage to organs and systems of the body depends on the path of infection (infection).
In some children, symptoms of damage to the nervous system are expressed mainly, in others – in the gastrointestinal tract, and in some sick children – respiratory damage. Therefore, it is believed that Q fever has many clinical manifestations, which makes the diagnosis of this disease quite difficult.
Q fever in children is of the following forms:
- light,
- moderate,
- heavy.
In the foci of infection in children, in frequent cases, subclinical and erased forms of the disease are fixed, which can be detected using serological methods (the study of certain antibodies or antigens in the blood serum of patients based on immunity reactions).
The disease is acute (duration up to 2-3 weeks), subacute (recovery occurs after 1.5 months and earlier) and chronically (lasting up to 1 year). There is a chance of relapse.
Diagnosis of Q Fever in Children
Suspicion of fever occurs due to prolonged fever with sweats, muscle pain, arthralgia, headaches in the endemic focus.
To make a final diagnosis, laboratory methods are used. Apply RSK, RN, skin-allergic test. R. burneti is isolated from the blood of a sick child, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, and sputum. Guinea pigs, white mice or cotton rats are infected with material from patients. Rickettsia Burnett accumulate in large numbers in the liver, spleen and other organs of infected animals.
Treatment of Q Fever in Children
For treatment, antibiotics based on tetracycline and chloramphenicol are used in doses corresponding to age. The course of treatment lasts from 7 to 10 days. Symptomatic agents are also used.
Prevention of Q Fever in Children
Preventive measures include the extermination of ticks in forests and other habitats, in the protection of domestic animals from tick attacks, and strict quarantine for sick animals. Conducting sanitary-educational work among the population, especially in endemic foci.
It is always necessary to carefully observe the rules of personal prevention when caring for sick pets. Milk is drunk only boiled – boiling destroys the infection, preventing infection with Q-fever in children and adults. For active immunization, the live vaccine M-44 is proposed, which is administered strictly according to epidemiological indications.