First Seroprevalence Study of Coxiella burnetii in Rural Pregnant Women in Contact with Livestock in Khorramabad

Abstract

Background: Coxiella burnetii is the cause of Q fever. There is no adequate information about Q fever in rural pregnant women in Iran. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of C. burnetii infection among rural pregnant women with historical contact with livestock in Khorramabad (western Iran). Methods: Thiscross-sectionalwasconductedfromDecember2016toJune2017on184samplescollectedrandomlyfromruralpreg-nantwomenwhoreferredtoclinicallaboratoriesandhealthcentersinKhorramabad. ThedatawereexaminedusingindirectELISA assay kits for the detection of C. burnetii phase II human antibodies in their serum samples. Results: Of 184 serum samples of rural pregnant women, 89 (48.4%) were positive, 76 (41.3%) negative, and 19 (10.3%) suspected. In addition, there was a significant relationship between age, pregnancy, abortion, and the location of the village relative to the city. The results suggested that more positive samples were observed in women that lived in the eastern villages of Khorramabad city; however, the difference was not statistically significant (P value = 0.535). Conclusions: The present study demonstrated the high seroprevalence of C. burnetii in rural pregnant women, which necessitates preventing the unwanted side effects of the disease. Rural pregnant women should pay more attention to the disease and its dangerous effects.