First case of Q fever endocarditis in Croatia and a short review

We present a 70-year-old man from Dalmatia, Croatia, with a history of prolonged high fever diagnosed as Q fever endocarditis. As far as we know, this is the first case of chronic Q fever in Croatia. The treatment was started as for culture-negative endocarditis, but was without clinical response. After significantly high anti-phase I IgG plus IgA antibodies titers to Coxiella burnetii were shown, the initial treatment with doxycycline was changed and ciprofloxacin was started with good clinical response.     

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Rostov Province: the epidemiological characteristics of an outbreak

The results of the epidemiological analysis of the outbreak of hemorrhagic fever which was caused by Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus and occurred during the period of July 3-19, 1999, in the Oblivskaya district of Rostov Province are presented. The specific epidemiological features of the outbreak have been determined. The possible versions of the appearance of the focus of infection and the role of Ixodes ticks in the circulation of the infective agent are discussed.     

Temporal studies of factors associated with changes in transcription during Q fever

Temporal studies were made of factors associated with increased RNA synthesis in guinea pig liver during Q fever. DNA-dependent RNA polymerase activities increased immediately after infection. The major distribution of RNA polymerase classes shifted from class II to class I during infection. Ornithine decarboxylase activity was induced or stimulated soon after infection and remained elevated throughout the four-day period studied. S-Adenosylmethionine decarboxylase activity increased on the first day after infection and subsequently declined. Concomitantly elevated concentrations of the polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine reached a maximum on the first day after infection and then decreased. A model is presented to integrate these and other results to explain how RNA synthesis may be regulated during infection.     

Q fever in the Ukraine

Q fever occurs in all geographical landscape zones and in most administrative regions of the Ukrainian SSR. The disease was diagnosed in those areas where no such cases had ever been registered. In the Kharkov region the examination of 425 fever patients with unclear diagnosis resulted in diagnosing 5 cases of Q fever. The proportion of seropositive persons among different professional groups of the population in the eastern part of the republic was determined (6.9% among workers of meat-packing factories, 8.7% among workers of fur- and wool-treating establishments, 5.2% among stock breeders). At the farms of the Kharkov, Poltava and Sumy regions the spread of infection among large cattle was 2.3% and among small cattle 5.6%. Rickettsial carriership revealed in hard ticks collected in the Kharkov region indicated the possibility of the existence of the natural focus of Q fever in this zone and increased the available information on the presence of the territories with the natural foci of this infection in the Ukraine.