Q fever
1
6.0
- noun
- /ˈkjuː ˈfiːvər/
- Specialized
:
fiebre Q
- Living near ruminant farms is a risk factor for infection with C. burnetii, the causative agent of Q fever.
- Q fever cases
- chronic Q fever
Examples
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Humans usually acquire Q fever by inhalation of C. burnetii aerosolized from contaminated materials originating from infected animals.
Academic text (2014) -
During 2007-2009, Q fever was a major public health problem in the Netherlands; over 4,000 human cases were reported (3).
Academic text (2014) -
Four participants reported having had Q fever diagnosed by a physician during 2008-2010.
Academic text (2014) -
Her research interests are Q fever in the Netherlands and other non-alimentary zoonoses.
Academic text (2014) -
Kline's liver was inflamed, a possible effect of Q fever.
Academic text (1999) -
Physicians should consider Q fever in the differential diagnosis for dairy cattle farmers with compatible symptoms.
Academic text (2014) -
Future studies should more explicitly assess the clinical effect of acute and chronic Q fever in humans who live or work on DCFs.
Academic text (2014) -
Q fever is an occupational zoonosis caused by Coxiella burnetii, a gram-negative bacterium (1).
Academic text (2014) -
In other European countries and the United States, C. burnetii infection is endemic in cattle and in humans occupationally exposed to cattle, but there are few clinical cases of acute Q fever (22, 23).
Academic text (2014) -
Patients suffering from Q fever often experience fever, chills, and severe headaches.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Q + fever
The headword 'fever' clearly signals an illness with elevated temperature, so a learner who knows the constituents will infer this is a kind of fever/illness. However, 'Q' is an arbitrary letter/proper label that gives no transparent information about cause or symptoms, so the precise medical meaning is not predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Q fever may come from early doctors who called the unknown illness Q as a short form of the word 'query' because they did not know what caused the sickness. So the strange name stayed and now Q fever refers to the infection that causes fever and flu-like symptoms.