Across-sectional study of brucellosis in patients admitted to baquba to general hospital

ABSTRACT

Brucellosisls a very common disease in Iraq the manifestations of the disease are different from one persom to the other in which the clinical diagnosis needs a thorugh study and documented precise investigations. To describe selected possible for acquiring brucellosis in Diala governorate and compare the relative frequency of selected clinical features between pediatric and adult age groups. A cross sectional study was done on a sample of 108 patients with an established diagnosis of Brucellosis admitted to Baquba General Hospital during the period extending from May 2001 to June 2003. Males constituted about two thirds of the study sample [65.7%] About a fifty [20.4%] of the study sample were in the pediatric age group [<16 years of age]. Raw milk or unpasteurized cheese and raw liver was among the risky for acquiring the infection reported by 67% and 58% of the study sample respectively. Animal contact [Agricultural activities] was reported by 59.3%. Among pediatric age group, the most frequent clinical features were Spinal tenderness, abdominal pain, arthralgia, sweating aches lack of energy and arthritis. While among adults Arthralgia, headache, aches, sweating, lack of energy, spinal tenderness, chills, fever, loss of appetite and arthritis were among the most frequently reported symptoms. Hepatosplenomegally is rarely reported and epididymoorchitis is a frequent complication of brucellosis in children. This result showed a male preponderanc in comparison to female Patients and this probably due to occupational exposure