- Title
- Q Fever awareness and risk profiles among agricultural show attendees
- Creator
- Hobbs, Megan J.; Ketheesan, Natkunam; Eastwood, Keith; Massey, Peter; Ranmuthugala, Geetha; Norton, Robert; Quirk, Frances H.
- Relation
- Australian Journal of Rural Health Vol. 30, Issue 5, p. 601-607
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajr.12896
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- 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.
- Subject
- agriculture; Coxiella burnetii; immunisation; livestock reservoir; zoonoses
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1486435
- Identifier
- uon:51848
- Identifier
- ISSN:1038-5282
- Language
- eng
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