Pro TV star Adriana Stere, mother of five, was recently diagnosed with Q fever after allegedly consuming cheese bought from a local producer. Specialists offer advice on this disease.
Adriana Stere Photo; Video Capture PRO TV
Following the analyzes he did, the doctors from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases “Prof. Dr. Matei Balș” found that Adriana Stere was infested with the Coxiella burnetii bacteria that causes Q fever.
She claimed to have eaten cheese from a local producer on September 15 and subsequently experienced dire symptoms. Six days after consuming the product, the first symptoms appeared: fatigue, altered general condition, and after another three days fever and chills, then cough.
Coxiella burnetii is a bacterium, with obligatory intracellular localization, highly infectious, which infects, especially, domestic animals such as sheep, goats or cattle. Commonly transmitted by inhalation of contaminated aerosols, Q fever can manifest as a self-limited febrile illness, pneumonia, or hepatitis.
“However, under certain circumstances, there is the possibility of evolution towards a chronic form, predominantly involving pre-existing damaged heart valves or blood vessels. The diagnosis is usually established serologically, and Doxycycline is the most common choice of antibiotic therapy“, according to a clinical study carried out in 2018 by specialists of the Clinical Hospital for Infectious and Tropical Diseases “Dr. Victor Babeş”.
The study group included 24 patients of both sexes, aged between 34 and 80 years old, hospitalized between January and December 2018, in the infectious disease wards of this hospital. The clinical manifestations documented in the acute condition were mostly general (fever, chills, myalgias, nausea), with a number of seven patients experiencing headaches.
“In addition, among the 14 subjects who developed interstitial pneumonia (the accentuation of the pulmonary interstitial pattern being the only radiological change encountered), only 4 showed a dry cough (28%), and among the 14 cases of hepatitis, only 3 were accompanied by scleral subicter (21%), results that confirm the data from the literature“, the study also mentions.
How Q fever is transmitted from animals to humans
The National Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) has offered some general advice, both for farmers and for people involved in raising farm animals, in order to protect and reduce the health risks of the exposed population.
Infection can usually occur as a result of inhaling/ingesting resistant spores from dust particles contaminated with post-calving excretions or secretions.
Dung or urine as well as animal by-products such as skin, wool or fur can be a source of infection. The most exposed to the risk of the disease is the staff in slaughterhouses or farms.
Another source of infection is the consumption of unpasteurized milk, as well as cheese. Hematophagous insects, or some existing superficial skin lesions in animal handlers may be involved in the production of the disease, claim ANSVSA representatives.
Q fever is rare in humans, even among farmers. Most people who are infected do not show symptoms or show very mild signs of the disease, serious forms being encountered very rarely. And Adriana Stere, the Pro TV reporter, found herself in such a situation.
“Symptoms appear 2-3 weeks after exposure and consist of flu-like symptoms with prolonged fever (2 weeks or more), fatigue, headache, muscle pain, and occasionally, pneumonia or other complications. Some people may present a chronic form of the disease, with symptoms that persist for more than six months“, claim the ANSVSA representatives.
And Adriana also had these symptoms. “Very high fever and chills. After that dry cough, then wet cough, ankle pain, joint pain, then left ankle stuck, couldn’t walk“, said Adriana Stere, on Pro TV. And this now feels much better.
Also, specialists claim that infection during pregnancy (whether the mother shows symptoms or not), can have a negative effect on the development of the fetus, including premature birth, low birth weight or abortion. Rarely, heart valve infections can occur, generally occurring in people with pre-existing heart disease or those who have undergone bypass surgery.
Rules for avoiding the risk of disease in farms
Because the activities carried out on farms inevitably involve close contact with animals and contaminated materials, strict compliance with personal hygiene rules is required.
Current veterinary health legislation requires farmers to take appropriate measures to minimize the exposure of employees and visitors to zoonotic diseases such as Q fever.
ANSVSA presents several indications that must be followed in order to avoid the risk of illness on farms:
– Wash your hands thoroughly several times a day and always before eating, smoking and after finishing the daily work schedule;
– Immediately wash your skin wounds with soap and running water and cover them with a waterproof dressing;
– Handle potentially infected tissues of animal origin, as well as abortions or materials that come into contact with them, always using waterproof gloves;
– Use additional personal protective equipment (including masks and goggles) for high-risk activities, such as in the case of confirmed Q Fever outbreaks;
– Store protective clothing separately from work clothing and do not wear contaminated work clothing inside the farm or at home;
– Do not consume unboiled milk and do not eat or smoke in areas with animals;
– If exposure to blood-sucking insects is unavoidable, use appropriate protective clothing.
– Pregnant women must avoid close contact with cattle, goats, or cats in the process of parturition, or in the post-partum period, or with sheep and lambs, especially in the spring.
