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Isolation of Coxiella burnetii from Children with Influenza‐Like Symptoms in Japan
Author(s) -
Nagaoka Hiromi,
Akiyama Masato,
Sugieda Masaaki,
Nishio Tomohiro,
Akahane Sousuke,
Hattori Hiroshi,
Ho To,
Fukushi Hideto,
Hirai Katsuya
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1996.tb03330.x
Subject(s) - coxiella burnetii , q fever , biology , virology , antibody , immunofluorescence , spleen , antigen , direct fluorescent antibody , rickettsiales , rickettsiaceae , microbiology and biotechnology , giemsa stain , immunology , rickettsia , bacteria , virus , genetics
The prevalence of Coxiella burnetii antibodies was investigated by indirect immunofluorescence (IF) test in 55 paired sera (acute and convalescent phases) of school children who had influenza‐like symptoms. Of the convalescent serum samples examined, 18 (32.7%) sera reacted positively to phase II antigen of C. burnetii. Coxiella ‐like organism was isolated from the sera of 13 children after injection of the 18 acute phase sera into mice. The organism was identified as C. burnetii by Giemsa staining and the IF antigen test of mouse spleen smears, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, electron microscopic observations of the mouse spleen cells, and the IF antibody test of mouse sera. This is the first report of isolation of C. burnetii from serum specimens of children having influenza‐like symptoms. The evidence that C. burnetii was isolated from people indigenous to Japan at a considerably high incidence suggested that C. burnetii may be widespread as a cause of influenza‐like symptoms in Japan.