A Study of Brucellosis in Childhood

Abstract

Two hundred children with brucellosis are described. The clinical characteristics on presentation included prolonged fever, arthralgia, weight loss, and malaise in the majority of the patients. Biochemical characteristics included a relative lymphocytosis in 92.9 percent of the patients and elevated liver enzymes in 83.5 percent. The Brucella agglutination titer was 1:320 or more in all the cases studied, but repeated blood cultures yielded growth of Brucella organisms in only 42 percent of the patients. Brucellosis is an important cause of fever in children living in areas where Brucella-infected animals are raised. Consumption of raw milk or dairy products made from raw milk are the main sources of infection. Education of the public and governmental control are necessary to eradicate the disease.

Evaluation of mean platelet volume (MPV) levels in brucellosis patients

“…Akbayram et al [40] reported isolated thrombocytopenia in some patients with brucellosis, and bone morrow aspiration revealed increased megakaryopoiesis in two of these five patients and thrombocytopenia reversed with medical treatment. Isolated thrombocytopenia may occur in brucellosis even in patients with active bone marrow and is improved by medical treatment [2,3,5,[36][37][38][39][40]. But change in platelet parameters between pre and post treatment periods was not clearly explained in those studies [2,3,5,[36][37][38][39][40].…”

<i>Brucella</i> Arthritis in Adults: Report on Forty-Eight Patients

“…B. melitensis, which produces more intense symptoms than the other Bru cella spp. [1], was identified in 12 patients out of the 13 with positive cultures, con forming to other series from Kuwait [3,4], The most commonly affected regions of the musculoskeletal system were the hip, knee and lumbosacral spine usually with the in volvement of one or two joints. The clinical picture is often intially confused with other forms of arthritis.…”

A case of PUO-Human Brucellosis

“…Fever of unknown origin (FUO) is a common initial diagnosis in patients in areas of low endemicity 7 . Constitutional symptoms of brucellosis include anorexia, asthenia, fatigue, weakness, and malaise, and weight loss and are ve ry common (> 90% of cases).…”