Q Fever in the Russian Federation: a View on Incidence through the Level of Development of Laboratory Diagnosis

Abstract

Relevance. Q fever in the absence of pathognomic signs is difficult to verify, so the incidence rate of coxiellosis depends on the level of its laboratory diagnosis.Aim. To analyze the incidence of Q fever in the Russian Federation for the time of its official registration (1957–2021) with an assessment of the level of laboratory diagnosis of diseases in different years. The high interest to Q fever in the middle of the last century gave impetus to the commercial production of inactivated Coxiella antigens and kits. The subsequent shortage of economically available diagnostic kits reflected in the official incidence of Q fever. Hypodiagnosis is caused not only by the clinical incidence of infection, but also often by the lack of the possibility of conducting a comprehensive clinical study of the material (detection of antibodies and DNA pathogen). The article presents historical facts for understanding of the rise and incidence of Q fever during the time of its official registration.Conclusions. An analysis of the epidemiological situation should carried taking into account the assessment of the level of diagnosis of Q fever in the regions and the country asa whole. It is necessary to record all newly diagnosed cases of the disease at any stage.