Clinical and Laboratory Findings of Paediatric Patients With Brucellosis

Abstract

Objective: Brucellosis is the most common bacterial zoonotic disease transmitted via unpasteurised milk and dairy products from infected animals. This study aimed to evaluate paediatric patients treated for brucellosis and followed for 2 years. Materials and Methods: The records of 73 patients with childhood brucellosis who had undergone treatment and follow-up for 2 years were retrospectively evaluated. Results: The patient age ranged from 1 to 14 years, with 39 boys (53%) and 34 girls (47%). Fever (94%) was the first common symptom. Other symptoms, in the order of frequency, were myalgia (80%), arthralgia (75%), fatigue (38%) and anorexia (33%). Complications included sacroiliitis (12%), hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (4%), epididymo-orchitis (1.3%), focal abscess (1.3 %) and meningitis (1.3%). Splenomegaly, hepatomegaly and lymphadenopathy (24%, 33% and 5%, respectively) were also reported. Moreover, 18% of the patients had hepatosplenomegaly at initial admission. Dermatological involvement revealed maculopapular rash in 4.1% and petechial rash in 9.6% of patients. Body weight loss was observed in 14% of the cases. In addition, 76.3% and 23.7% of the patients had acute and sub-acute forms, respectively. Conclusion: Brucellosis can display several different clinical presentations. This diversity can lead to diagnostic delay. In settlements where the disease is common, patients with fever and joint pain should be treated early and the disease should be ruled out.