A Cause of Fever that should be Kept in Mind in Family Medicine in Settlements Where Livestock Farming is Widespread: Brucellosis

• Main Authors: Çiğdem El, Mehmet Emin Çelikkaya
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Galenos Yayinevi 2019-12-01
• Series: Journal of Pediatric Research
• Subjects: brucellosis; child; fever
• Online Access: http://jpedres.org/archives/archive-detail/article-preview/a-cause-of-fever-that-should-be-kept-in-mind-in-fa/30608

Aim:In our country, where animal husbandry is widespread, we aimed to examine retrospectively data concerning childhood Brucellosis cases, which are not very high in the literature, which may occur with many variable clinical findings and may cause misdiagnosis and serious complications.Materials and Methods:The data of these patients with the diagnosis of Brucellosis who were treated between October 2016 and October 2018 in a Pediatric Clinic were retrospectively analyzed. For the diagnosis of Brucellosis in patients, the Wright agglutination test with complaints and clinical findings set at the titer being 1/160 or above was used.Results:In our study, the mean age of the patients was 7.4 years (3-15). 52.12% (n=37) were male and 47.88% (n=34) were female. All patients had a risk factor for Brucellosis infection. In 88.7% (n=63) of these patients, consumption of milk and dairy products (precipitates, fresh cheese was not cooked), and 11.3% (n=8) of raw meat (raw meatball) consumption and animal contact history were determined.Conclusion:Although early diagnosis and response to treatment with Brucellosis are very good, late diagnosis and inadequate treatment may cause mortality and morbidity with serious complications. Complaints of fatigue, weight loss and especially joint pain with long term fever should be evaluated by family physicians and pediatricians. The diagnosis of these patients should be kept in mind in the diagnosis of Brucellosis, an endemic disease common in our country.