{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,24]],"date-time":"2026-10-24T00:56:40Z","timestamp":1792803400764,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,7]],"date-time":"2020-02-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1581033600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":6,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002347","name":"Bundesministerium f\u00fcr Bildung und Forschung","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["01 KI 0735"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["01 KI 0735"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002347","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002347","name":"Bundesministerium f\u00fcr Bildung und Forschung","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["01 KI 1001C"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["01 KI 1001C"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002347","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2019,12,18]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Q fever is a zoonosis caused by the bacterium\n                      <jats:italic>Coxiella burnetii<\/jats:italic>\n                      . It is recognised as an occupational hazard for individuals who are in regular contact with animal birth products. Data from the literature are not comparable because different serological assays perform very differently in detecting past infections. It is therefore essential to choose the right assay for obtaining reliable data of seroprevalence. Obstetricians are another profession potentially at risk of Q fever. They can be infected from birth products of women with Q fever during pregnancy. There is little data, however, for Q fever in this occupational group. Our study therefore had two purposes. The first was to obtain reliable seroprevalence data for occupational groups in regular contact with animal birth products by using an assay with proven excellent sensitivity and specificity for detecting past infections. The second purpose was to obtain primary data for obstetricians.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Design<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We carried out a cross-sectional study.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The study included shepherds, cattle farmers, veterinarians and obstetricians from Thuringia.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Participants<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>77 shepherds, 74 veterinarians, 14 cattle farmers, 17 office employees and 68 obstetricians participated. The control group consisted of 92 blood donors.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Primary outcome measure<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The primary outcome measure was\n                      <jats:italic>C. burnetii<\/jats:italic>\n                      phase II specific IgG. The assay used was evaluated for this purpose in a previous study.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Of the 250 blood samples we analysed, the very highest seroprevalences (64%\u201377%) occurred in individuals with frequent animal contact. There were no significant differences between shepherds, cattle farmers and veterinarians. The seroprevalence in people working in administration was lower but still significantly greater than the control. No obstetricians or midwives tested positive.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Shepherds, cattle farmers and veterinarians have a high risk of\n                      <jats:italic>C. burnetii<\/jats:italic>\n                      infection. However, our study clearly proves that there was no increased risk for people working in an obstetric department.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2019-030088","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,10]],"date-time":"2020-02-10T04:35:22Z","timestamp":1581309322000},"page":"e030088","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":33,"title":["Who is at risk of occupational Q fever: new insights from a multi-profession cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Tanja","family":"Groten","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics, Universit\u00e4tsklinikum Jena (University Hospital Jena), Jena, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Karola","family":"Kuenzer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Universit\u00e4tsklinikum Jena (University Hospital Jena), Jena, Th\u00fcringen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Udo","family":"Moog","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Thuringian Animal Health Service, Jena, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Beate","family":"Hermann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Practice Dr. Thomas Seidel, Weimar, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katrin","family":"Maier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Universit\u00e4tsklinikum Jena (University Hospital Jena), Jena, Th\u00fcringen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6743-1089","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katharina","family":"Boden","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dianovis GmbH, Greiz, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, Universit\u00e4tsklinikum (University Hospital) Jena, Jena, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025121603060361000_10.2.e030088.1","first-page":"382","article-title":"Q fever in the Netherlands from 2007 to 2010","volume":"68","author":"Delsing","year":"2010","journal-title":"Neth J Med"},{"key":"2025121603060361000_10.2.e030088.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1084","DOI":"10.1017\/S0950268807009533","article-title":"Large Q fever outbreak due to sheep farming near residential areas, Germany, 2005","volume":"136","author":"Gilsdorf","year":"2008","journal-title":"Epidemiol Infect"},{"key":"2025121603060361000_10.2.e030088.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2334-6-147","article-title":"A super-spreading ewe infects hundreds with Q fever at a farmers' market in Germany","volume":"6","author":"Porten","year":"2006","journal-title":"BMC Infect Dis"},{"key":"2025121603060361000_10.2.e030088.4","first-page":"180","article-title":"An explosive outbreak of Q-fever in Jedl'ov\u00e9 Kostol'any, Slovakia","volume":"5","author":"Varga","year":"1997","journal-title":"Cent Eur J Public Health"},{"key":"2025121603060361000_10.2.e030088.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.12.4.518"},{"key":"2025121603060361000_10.2.e030088.6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"679","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(06)68266-4","article-title":"Q fever","volume":"367","author":"Parker","year":"2006","journal-title":"The Lancet"},{"key":"2025121603060361000_10.2.e030088.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1273","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jvs.2015.06.217","article-title":"Vascular complications and surgical interventions after world's largest Q fever outbreak","volume":"62","author":"Broos","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Vasc Surg"},{"key":"2025121603060361000_10.2.e030088.8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-018-3135-4","article-title":"Airborne geographical dispersal of Q fever from livestock holdings to human communities: a systematic review and critical appraisal of evidence","volume":"18","author":"Clark","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMC Infect Dis"},{"key":"2025121603060361000_10.2.e030088.9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3201\/eid0705.010504"},{"key":"2025121603060361000_10.2.e030088.10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2807\/ese.18.08.20407-en"},{"key":"2025121603060361000_10.2.e030088.11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"478","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.39.4.478","article-title":"Experimental Q fever in cattle","volume":"39","author":"Bell","year":"1949","journal-title":"Am J Public Health Nations Health"},{"key":"2025121603060361000_10.2.e030088.12","unstructured":"Christie AB . 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