Serological Follow up in 50 Brucellosis Cases in a Rural Area

Aim: Brucellosis is an endemic and zoonotic disease in livestock\udfarming areas. Patients may exhibit relapses, reinfections and\udmulti-system complications. Therefore, early diagnosis, appropriate\udtreatment as well as serological follow-up are extremely important\udin the management of this disease.\udMethods: We aimed to investigate the demographic characteristics,\udclinical and laboratory findings and risk factors in 50 brucellosis\udcases (14 males, 36 females) who were treated in Hakkari State\udHospital. All patients were evaluated for post-treatment serological\udresults.\udResults: The mean age of the patients was 35 years. The main\udclinical symptoms were arthralgia, fatigue, sweating, back pain,\udand headache. Fever, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly and arthritis\udwere the most common signs. Anemia, high level of AST and\udALT, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, high sedimentation rate,\udand leukocytosis were found in laboratory tests. The Wright\udagglutination test was positive at titers of 1/160 in 18 cases,\ud1/320 in 22 cases, 1/640 in 3 cases, and 1/1280 in 7 cases.\udTwelve patients had relapse. One patient, who was a veterinarian,\udwas infected via splashing live brucella vaccine into the eyes. Two\udwomen transmitted the disease to their babies through breast\udmilk. At the end of the treatment, Wright agglutination test results\udwere negative in all patients.\udConclusion: The average duration of symptoms before the\uddiagnosis was 4 months in our study. Therefore, brucellosis\udshould be considered in all individuals who present with fever and\udarthralgia in endemic areas (The Medical Bulletin of Haseki 2015;\ud53:139-42