Case 1: A Fever of Unknown Origin
In 1935, a renowned physician named E.H. Derrick was sent to the Australian countryside to investigate a mysterious illness plaguing workers in the meat-packing industry. The patients were all men who were otherwise healthy, and the onset of the illness was similar to that of a common viral illness: fever, malaise, headache, anorexia, and muscle pains. However, over time the fever became more intense, and rose dramatically once every day or two, putting the patients into a stuporous state. In most patients the fevers lasted two to three weeks, then subsided with only supportive care. Other unusual features noted by the doctor included a slow pulse rate, severe headaches with photophobia, and weakness that lasted for months after resolution of the other symptoms. All blood cultures and agglutination tests were negative, as were separate tests for various forms of typhoid fever. Doctors also noticed that a few of the patients who recovered had mysterious episodes of culture-negative endocarditis years later. The medical community referred to the illness as "the query" for two years before the immunologist and future Nobel laureate Sir Frank Burnet discovered the etiology of the disease. What was it?
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| Australian pathologist Sir Edward Derrick (1898-1976) |
Answer: (highlight to see)
Q fever (Q stands for Query), Pathogen is Coxiella Burnetii, named for the two doctors who discovered it.
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