PCR for rapid diagnosis of acute Q fever at a combat support hospital in Iraq

Acute Q fever is occasionally seen in U.S. military service members deployed to Iraq. Diagnosis relies on serology, which is not available in the combat zone. Improved diagnostic modalities are needed. We performed a pilot study investigating whether Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnos...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Military medicine 2011-01, Vol.176 (1), p.103-105
Main Authors: Hamilton, Lanette R, George, Dena L, Scoville, Stephanie L, Hospenthal, Duane R, Griffith, Matthew E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Armed forces
Biological & chemical terrorism
Diagnostic tests
Effectiveness
FDA approval
Female
Fever
Hospitals
Hospitals, Military
Humans
Iraq - epidemiology
Iraq War, 2003-2011
Laboratories
Male
Military Personnel
Military service
Patients
Pilot Projects
Polymerase chain reaction
Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods
Q Fever - diagnosis
Q Fever - epidemiology
Sample size
Serology
Thrombocytopenia
United States
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Summary:Acute Q fever is occasionally seen in U.S. military service members deployed to Iraq. Diagnosis relies on serology, which is not available in the combat zone. Improved diagnostic modalities are needed. We performed a pilot study investigating whether Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System (JBAIDS), a ruggedized, deployable polymerase chain reaction (PCR) platform, might be useful in the diagnosis of acute Q fever. Patients presenting to a Combat Support Hospital in Iraq with undifferentiated fever had blood drawn for Q fever PCR and these results were compared with serology. PCR was positive in 6 of 9 patients with acute Q fever by serology and negative in all 9 patients with negative serology. These results suggest that PCR using the JBAIDS platform could be of use in the diagnosis of Q fever in deployed settings. Further research into this modality is warranted.
ISSN:0026-4075
1930-613X
DOI:10.7205/MILMED-D-10-00111