Q Fever awareness and risk profiles among agricultural show attendees

Megan J. Hobbs; Natkunam Ketheesan; Keith Eastwood; Peter Massey; Geetha Ranmuthugala; Robert Norton; Frances H. Quirk

doi:10.1111/ajr.12896

Q Fever awareness and risk profiles among agricultural show attendees

Megan J. Hobbs^*, Natkunam Ketheesan, Keith Eastwood, Peter Massey, Geetha Ranmuthugala, Robert Norton, Frances H. Quirk

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Objective: To assess awareness and risk of Q fever among agricultural show attendees.

Setting: University of New England's Farm of the Future Pavilion, 2019, Sydney Royal Agricultural Show.

Participants: Participants were ≥18 years, fluent in English, Australian residents, and gave their informed consent.

Main Outcome Measures: Participants reported whether they had ever heard of Q fever and then completed the ‘Q Tool’ (www.qfevertool.com), which was used to assess participants' demographics and risk profiles. Cross-tabulations and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between these factors.

Results: A total of 344 participants were recruited who, in general, lived in major NSW cities and were aged 40–59 years. 62% were aware of Q fever. Living in regional/remote areas and regular contact with livestock, farms, abattoirs and/or feedlots increased the likelihood of Q fever awareness. Direct or indirect contact with feral animals was not associated with Q fever awareness after controlling for the latter risk factors. 40% of participants had a high, 21% a medium, and 30% a low risk of exposure. Slightly less than 10% reported a likely existing immunity or vaccination against Q fever. Among those who were not immune, living in a regional or remote area and Q fever awareness were independently associated with increased likelihood of exposure.

Conclusions: Awareness of Q fever was relatively high. Although 61% of participants had a moderate to high risk of exposure to Q fever, they had not been vaccinated. This highlights the need to explore barriers to vaccination including accessibility of providers and associated cost.

Original language	English
Number of pages	7
Journal	Australian Journal of Rural Health
Volume	Early View
Early online date	11 Jul 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ajr.12896
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 11 Jul 2022

Keywords

Agriculture
Coxiella burnetii
Immunisation
Livestock reservoir
Zoonoses

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1111/ajr.12896Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Hobbs_2022_AJRH_Q-Fever-awareness_CC
Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Australian Journal of Rural Health published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of National Rural Health Alliance Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Final published version, 458 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "Q Fever awareness and risk profiles among agricultural show attendees",

abstract = "Objective: To assess awareness and risk of Q fever among agricultural show attendees. Setting: University of New England's Farm of the Future Pavilion, 2019, Sydney Royal Agricultural Show. Participants: Participants were ≥18 years, fluent in English, Australian residents, and gave their informed consent. Main Outcome Measures: Participants reported whether they had ever heard of Q fever and then completed the {\textquoteleft}Q Tool{\textquoteright} (www.qfevertool.com), which was used to assess participants' demographics and risk profiles. Cross-tabulations and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between these factors. Results: A total of 344 participants were recruited who, in general, lived in major NSW cities and were aged 40–59 years. 62% were aware of Q fever. Living in regional/remote areas and regular contact with livestock, farms, abattoirs and/or feedlots increased the likelihood of Q fever awareness. Direct or indirect contact with feral animals was not associated with Q fever awareness after controlling for the latter risk factors. 40% of participants had a high, 21% a medium, and 30% a low risk of exposure. Slightly less than 10% reported a likely existing immunity or vaccination against Q fever. Among those who were not immune, living in a regional or remote area and Q fever awareness were independently associated with increased likelihood of exposure. Conclusions: Awareness of Q fever was relatively high. Although 61% of participants had a moderate to high risk of exposure to Q fever, they had not been vaccinated. This highlights the need to explore barriers to vaccination including accessibility of providers and associated cost.",

keywords = "Agriculture, Coxiella burnetii, Immunisation, Livestock reservoir, Zoonoses",

author = "Hobbs, {Megan J.} and Natkunam Ketheesan and Keith Eastwood and Peter Massey and Geetha Ranmuthugala and Robert Norton and Quirk, {Frances H.}",

note = "Funding: Research activities were supported, in part, by the University of New England Faculty of Medicine and Health Discretionary Funds. Open access publishing facilitated by University of New England, as part of the Wiley ‐ University of New England agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.",

year = "2022",

month = jul,

day = "11",

doi = "10.1111/ajr.12896",

language = "English",

volume = "Early View",

journal = "Australian Journal of Rural Health",

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T1 - Q Fever awareness and risk profiles among agricultural show attendees

AU - Hobbs, Megan J.

AU - Ketheesan, Natkunam

AU - Eastwood, Keith

AU - Massey, Peter

AU - Ranmuthugala, Geetha

AU - Norton, Robert

AU - Quirk, Frances H.

N1 - Funding: Research activities were supported, in part, by the University of New England Faculty of Medicine and Health Discretionary Funds. Open access publishing facilitated by University of New England, as part of the Wiley ‐ University of New England agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.

PY - 2022/7/11

Y1 - 2022/7/11

N2 - Objective: To assess awareness and risk of Q fever among agricultural show attendees. Setting: University of New England's Farm of the Future Pavilion, 2019, Sydney Royal Agricultural Show. Participants: Participants were ≥18 years, fluent in English, Australian residents, and gave their informed consent. Main Outcome Measures: Participants reported whether they had ever heard of Q fever and then completed the ‘Q Tool’ (www.qfevertool.com), which was used to assess participants' demographics and risk profiles. Cross-tabulations and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between these factors. Results: A total of 344 participants were recruited who, in general, lived in major NSW cities and were aged 40–59 years. 62% were aware of Q fever. Living in regional/remote areas and regular contact with livestock, farms, abattoirs and/or feedlots increased the likelihood of Q fever awareness. Direct or indirect contact with feral animals was not associated with Q fever awareness after controlling for the latter risk factors. 40% of participants had a high, 21% a medium, and 30% a low risk of exposure. Slightly less than 10% reported a likely existing immunity or vaccination against Q fever. Among those who were not immune, living in a regional or remote area and Q fever awareness were independently associated with increased likelihood of exposure. Conclusions: Awareness of Q fever was relatively high. Although 61% of participants had a moderate to high risk of exposure to Q fever, they had not been vaccinated. This highlights the need to explore barriers to vaccination including accessibility of providers and associated cost.

AB - Objective: To assess awareness and risk of Q fever among agricultural show attendees. Setting: University of New England's Farm of the Future Pavilion, 2019, Sydney Royal Agricultural Show. Participants: Participants were ≥18 years, fluent in English, Australian residents, and gave their informed consent. Main Outcome Measures: Participants reported whether they had ever heard of Q fever and then completed the ‘Q Tool’ (www.qfevertool.com), which was used to assess participants' demographics and risk profiles. Cross-tabulations and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between these factors. Results: A total of 344 participants were recruited who, in general, lived in major NSW cities and were aged 40–59 years. 62% were aware of Q fever. Living in regional/remote areas and regular contact with livestock, farms, abattoirs and/or feedlots increased the likelihood of Q fever awareness. Direct or indirect contact with feral animals was not associated with Q fever awareness after controlling for the latter risk factors. 40% of participants had a high, 21% a medium, and 30% a low risk of exposure. Slightly less than 10% reported a likely existing immunity or vaccination against Q fever. Among those who were not immune, living in a regional or remote area and Q fever awareness were independently associated with increased likelihood of exposure. Conclusions: Awareness of Q fever was relatively high. Although 61% of participants had a moderate to high risk of exposure to Q fever, they had not been vaccinated. This highlights the need to explore barriers to vaccination including accessibility of providers and associated cost.

KW - Agriculture

KW - Coxiella burnetii

KW - Immunisation

KW - Livestock reservoir

KW - Zoonoses

U2 - 10.1111/ajr.12896

DO - 10.1111/ajr.12896

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85133679497

SN - 1038-5282

VL - Early View

JO - Australian Journal of Rural Health

JF - Australian Journal of Rural Health

ER -

Q Fever awareness and risk profiles among agricultural show attendees

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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