L. Belec et al., COXIELLA-BURNETII INFECTION AMONG SUBJECTS INFECTED WITH HIV TYPE-1 IN THE CENTRAL-AFRICAN-REPUBLIC, European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases, 12(10), 1993, pp. 775-778
Sixty-six sera from HIV-1-seropositive adult African subjects and 49 s
era from HIV-seronegative age and sex matched healthy African controls
living in Bangui, Central African Republic, were screened for Coxiell
a burnetii antibody by an indirect immunofluorescent antibody test. 16
.7 % of HIV-infected patients and 16.3 % of the HIV-negative controls
had positive IgG titres, with no significant difference between the tw
o groups. Two of the seven HIV-infected patients seropositive for Coxi
ella burnetii for whom clinical data was available had a medical histo
ry compatible with symptomatic Q fever. These findings indicate that t
here is a high degree of exposure to Coxiella burnetii infection in Ba
ngui. In individuals co-infected with HIV and Coxiella burnetii, cellu
lar immunosuppression could favour symptomatic Q fever. Physicians sho
uld be aware of the possibility of symptomatic Coxiella burnetii infec
tion among HIV-infected people, particularly in endemic regions for bo
th infections such as in sub-saharan Africa.