The consequences of Q fever turn out to be much more serious than expected. The Q fever clinic of the Jeroen Bosch Hospital expects that several hundred Q fever patients will develop the chronic variant of Q fever and fear an epidemic.
A spokeswoman for the Jeroen Bosch Hospital in Den Bosch confirmed this last Wednesday after reporting by the NOS about the consequences of Q fever. † According to the hospital, there have been about 4,000 acute Q fever cases so far. In 1 to 5 percent of the number of patients the disease develops into a chronic disease , which can be life-threatening in some cases.
Q fever bacteria
The bacteria that causes Q fever is released in large quantities during miscarriages of sick goats and sheep and is spread through the air † Most people notice little or nothing of an infection. One fifth of those infected develop serious symptoms such as pneumonia over time † In chronic Q fever the bacteria can even lodge in heart valves and veins, which can lead to deadly bleeding †
Read more about Q fever here>
The Jeroen Bosch Hospital is conducting research into chronic Q fever together with hospitals in Nijmegen and Utrecht † Three million euros in subsidy has been made available for this.
