Sukocheva, Olga A, Manavis, Jim, Kok, Tuck-Weng et al. · BMC infectious diseases · 2016 · DOI
This case report describes a young woman who developed severe, long-lasting illness after a Q fever infection and died 10 years later. After her death, researchers examined her tissues and found pieces of the bacteria (Coxiella burnetii) and its DNA still present in multiple organs, including her brain, heart, lungs, and spleen. This suggests that Q fever bacteria can persist in the body in a dormant or inactive form, potentially triggering ongoing illness.
This study provides pathological evidence that C. burnetii can persist dormant in multiple organ systems years after acute infection, which may explain why some post-infectious illnesses become chronic and severe. Understanding persistent microbial reservoirs could help identify potential triggers for ME/CFS-like illness and inform future diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for post-viral conditions.
This case report does not prove that C. burnetii persistence causes ME/CFS in general, as it describes only one patient with unusual severity. The study does not establish whether bacterial persistence is the primary driver of illness versus a consequence of immune dysfunction, nor does it demonstrate that similar persistence occurs in typical ME/CFS cases or in other QFS patients.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Sukocheva, Olga A, Manavis, Jim, Kok, Tuck-Weng, Turra, Mark, Izzo, Angelo, Blumbergs, Peter, et al. (2016). Coxiella burnetii dormancy in a fatal ten-year multisystem dysfunctional illness: case report.. BMC infectious diseases. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-016-1497-z
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-sukocheva-2016-coxiella-burnetii,
author = {Sukocheva, Olga A and Manavis, Jim and Kok, Tuck-Weng and Turra, Mark and Izzo, Angelo and Blumbergs, Peter and Marmion, Barrie P},
title = {Coxiella burnetii dormancy in a fatal ten-year multisystem dysfunctional illness: case report.},
journal = {BMC infectious diseases},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1186/s12879-016-1497-z},
note = {PubMed: 27091026},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sukocheva-2016-coxiella-burnetii},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sukocheva-2016-coxiella-burnetii
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