Childhood Brucellosis in Southeastern Region of Turkey: A retrospective analysis

Objective: To evaluate the clinical and laboratory findings, treatment modalities and outcomes of children with brucellosis in a four-year period Methods: This retrospective study included 34 children who were admitted to Dicle University Pediatric Infectious Diseases Service with brucellosis between 2003-2007. Demographic features, clinical symptoms, physical examination and laboratory findings of patients were evaluated. The standard tube agglutination test, Rose Bengal test and clinical findings were used as diagnostic criteria for brucellosis. Results: In the study, twelve patients (35%) were female and 22 (65%) were male. The mean age was 9.2+/-3.4 years. Twenty-one patients (61.7%) were from rural areas of Turkey. All of the children except two patients have reported to consume unprocessed milk and dairy products. The most frequent complaints and clinical findings were fever (88.2%) and musculo-skeletal system symptoms (76.4%). Hematological involvement was significantly apparent in laboratory results. Trimethoprimsulfamethoxazole+ rifampicin were administered to children smaller than 8 years and doxycycline+ rifampicin to children older than 8 years during 6 weeks for treatment. Four patients were relapsed. Conclusion: Musculoskeletal system complaints and fever are the most common symptoms in brucellosis. Brucellosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with hematological signs. Combined treatments should be administered within a sufficient period to provide successful treatment and prevent relapse.