Epidemiology and clinical analysis of 24 children with brucellosis / 中华地方病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of children with brucellosis, and to provide a practical basis and experience for clinical diagnosis and treatment of brucellosis.Methods:Retrospective analysis was used to collect clinical data of children with brucellosis diagnosed at the Children's Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University from May 2015 to October 2017, and their epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, and clinical diagnosis and treatment were summarized.Results:A total of 24 children were included, including 14 males and 10 females, with an average age of 6 years (1 year 2 months to 12 years old). Except February, onset throughout the year, higher incidence was from May to July (14 cases, 58.33%). The exposure history of the children was mainly exposure to cattle and sheep and consumption of beef and mutton (18 cases, 75.00%). The main clinical manifestations were fever in 24 cases (100.00%), bone and joint pain in 14 cases (58.33%), hepatomegaly in 9 cases (37.50%), splenomegaly in 7 cases (29.17%). Tube agglutination test (SAT) was positive in 21 cases (87.50%), weakly positive in 1 case (4.17%) and negative in 2 cases (8.33%). Brucella was detected in all 24 cases by microbial culture, and in 18 cases (75.00%) by blood culture. Eighteen cases (75.00%) had liver dysfunction. Thirteen cases were misdiagnosed, and the misdiagnosis rate was as high as 54.17%. Twenty-two cases had been cured after treatment, 2 cases relapsed and recovered after continued treatment. Conclusions:Children with brucellosis have diverse epidemiology and clinical features, and are easily misdiagnosed. For children with fever, bone and joint pain and exposure history, pediatricians should be alert to the possibility of brucellosis, conduct microbiological and serological tests, in order to timely, accurate and standardized diagnosis and treatment of children with brucellosis.