Signs and symptoms do not predict, but may help rule out acute Q fever in favour of other respiratory tract infections, and reduce antibiotics overuse in primary care

Table 3 Univariable associations of acute Q fever outcome with potential predictors in adult respondents with complete questionnaire response tested during wave 1, n = 334 (Q fever positive n = 140, Q fever negative n = 194)

	B	S.E.	P	OR	95% CI
	B	S.E.	P	OR	Lower	Upper
Signs and symptoms
Fever	1.50	0.31	<0.001	4.47	2.43	8.23
Pneumonia	1.42	0.30	<0.001	4.12	2.29	7.41
Confusion	0.85	0.37	0.023	2.33	1.13	4.83
Flu-like illness	0.78	0.28	0.005	2.19	1.27	3.79
Night sweats	0.76	0.25	0.002	2.14	1.31	3.48
Weight loss	0.72	0.27	0.007	2.05	1.22	3.45
Severe fatigue	0.69	0.25	0.006	1.99	1.22	3.24
Headache	0.52	0.24	0.03	1.67	1.05	2.68
Chest pain	0.51	0.26	0.05	1.67	1.00	2.77
Abdominal pain	−0.81	0.28	0.004	0.45	0.26	0.78
Shortness of breath	0.40	0.25	0.10	1.49	0.92	2.41
Arthralgia	0.33	0.23	0.17	1.39	0.88	2.19
Stiff neck	0.12	0.24	0.62	1.12	0.71	1.79
Exanthema	0.06	0.28	0.84	1.06	0.62	1.82
Diarrhea	0.00	0.25	0.99	1.00	0.62	1.63
Jaundice	−0.65	0.70	0.36	0.52	0.13	2.07
Earache	− 0.51	0.34	0.14	0.60	0.31	1.17
Ocular symptoms	−0.36	0.40	0.37	0.70	0.32	1.52
Cough	−0.31	0.24	0.20	0.74	0.46	1.17
Myalgia	−0.06	0.23	0.79	0.94	0.59	1.48
Demographics
Age 40–59 vs. 20–39	0.67	0.31	0.03	1.96	1.06	3.61
Age ≥60 vs. 20–39	0.06	0.33	0.85	1.07	0.56	2.05
Sex	0.83	0.24	0.001	2.30	1.43	3.67
Residential farm distance	−0.02	0.05	0.68	0.98	0.90	1.08
Others
Active smoking	0.42	0.25	0.10	1.52	0.93	2.48
Medical specialist vs. GP	1.35	0.34	<0.001	3.85	1.97	7.53

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