Q Fever is Underestimated in the United States: A Comparison of Fatal Q Fever Cases from Two National Reporting Systems

F. Scott Dahlgren Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; Prion and Public Health Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

Search for other papers by F. Scott Dahlgren in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Dana L. Haberling Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; Prion and Public Health Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

Search for other papers by Dana L. Haberling in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
, and
Jennifer H. McQuiston Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; Prion and Public Health Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

Search for other papers by Jennifer H. McQuiston in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Restricted access

Two national surveillance systems capturing reports of fatal Q fever were compared with obtained estimates of Q fever underreporting in the United States using capture–recapture methods. During 2000–2011, a total of 33 unique fatal Q fever cases were reported through case report forms submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and through U.S. death certificate data. A single case matched between both data sets, yielding an estimated 129 fatal cases (95% confidence interval [CI] = 62–1,250) during 2000–2011. Fatal cases of Q fever were underreported through case report forms by an estimated factor of 14 and through death certificates by an estimated factor of 5.2.

Author Notes

* Address correspondence to F. Scott Dahlgren, Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS A-30, Atlanta, GA 30333. E-mail: iot0@cdc.gov

Authors' addresses: F. Scott Dahlgren and Jennifer H. McQuiston, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Atlanta, GA, E-mails: iot0@cdc.gov and fzh7@cdc.gov. Dana L. Haberling, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, Atlanta, GA, E-mail: fnj2@cdc.gov.

  • 1.

    Anderson A, Bijlmer H, Fournier PE, Graves S, Hartzell J, Kersh GJ, Limonard G, Marrie TJ, Massung RF, McQuiston JH, Nicholson WL, Paddock CD, Sexton DJ, 2013. Diagnosis and management of Q fever–United States, 2013: recommendations from CDC and the Q Fever Working Group. MMWR Recomm Rep 62: 130.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 2.

    National Center for Health Statistics, 2014. Public-Use Data Set Documentation: Mortality Data Set for ICD-10 2001–2011. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 3.

    Arias E, Schauman WS, Eschbach K, Sorlie PD, Backlund E, 2008. The validity of race and Hispanic origin reporting on death certificates in the United States. Vital Health Stat 2 (148): 123.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 4.

    Chapman DG, 1951. Some Properties of the Hypergeometric Distribution with Applications to Zoological Sample Censuses. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 5.

    Cormack RM, 1992. Interval estimation for mark-recapture studies of closed populations. Biometrics 48: 567576.

  • 6.

    Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, 1999. Placing Q Fever (Coxiella burnetii) Under National Surveillance in the United States Under the National Public Health Surveillance System (NPHSS). Position Statement.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 7.

    Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, 2007. Revision of the Surveillance Case Definition for Q Fever. Position Statement.

  • 8.

    Adams DA, Gallagher KM, Jajosky RA, Kriseman J, Sharp P, Anderson WJ, Aranas AE, Mayes M, Wodajo MS, Onweh DH, Abellera JP; Division of Notifiable Diseases, Healthcare Information OoSE, Laboratory Services CDC, 2013. Summary of notifiable diseases - United States, 2011. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 60: 1117.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 9.

    Chao A, Pan HY, Chiang SC, 2008. The Petersen-Lincoln estimator and its extension to estimate the size of a shared population. Biom J 50: 957970.

  • 10.

    van der Hoek W, Hogema BM, Dijkstra F, Rietveld A, Wijkmans CJ, Schneeberger PM, Zaaijer HL, 2012. Relation between Q fever notifications and Coxiella burnetii infections during the 2009 outbreak in The Netherlands. Euro Surveill 17: 20058.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 11.

    Dahlgren FS, McQuiston JH, Massung RF, Anderson AD, 2015. Q fever in the United States: summary of case reports from two national surveillance systems, 2000–2012. Am J Trop Med Hyg 92: 247255.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 12.

    Anderson AD, Kruszon-Moran D, Loftis AD, McQuillan G, Nicholson WL, Priestley RA, Candee AJ, Patterson NE, Massung RF, 2009. Seroprevalence of Q fever in the United States, 2003–2004. Am J Trop Med Hyg 81: 691694.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 13.

    Espey DK, Jim MA, Richards TB, Begay C, Haverkamp D, Roberts D, 2014. Methods for improving the quality and completeness of mortality data for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Am J Public Health 104 (Suppl 3): S286S294.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
Past two years Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 1918 1821 73
Full Text Views 294 11 1
PDF Downloads 77 13 1
 

 

 

 
 
Affiliate Membership Banner
 
 
Research for Health Information Banner
 
 
CLOCKSS
 
 
 
Society Publishers Coalition Banner
Save