Epidemiologic and clinical features of preschool children with brucellosis / 中华地方病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To analyze the epidemiologic and clinical features of preschool children with brucellosis, and improve awareness of brucellosis and level of diagnosis. Methods In - patients treated for brucellosis in preschool children from December 2016 to November 2018 in Heilongjiang Agricultural Reclamation Bureau General Hospital were retrospectively analyzed for epidemiology, clinical feature, laboratory data, treatment and prognosis. Results There were 29 males and 16 females among the 45 preschool children brucellosis cases, with an average age of (3.7 ± 1.6) years old, ranged from 6 months to 6 years old. The patients of > 3 - 6 years old of age had the highest incidence (64.44％, 29/45). The patients were mainly rural residents (97.78％, 44/45). The onset time was mainly from March to June of the year (46.67％, 21/45). Clinical symptoms were mostly fever and joint pain, which accounted for 97.78％ (44/45) and 57.78％ (26/45), respectively. And lymph node enlargement and hepatosplenomegaly were also commonly seen, which accounted for 42.22％ (19/45) and 35.56％ (16/45). After treatment, the test results of patients with alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB), α-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (HBDH) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were compared with those of before the treatment, the differences were statistically significant (t = 4.774, 2.970, 2.229, 5.664, 5.805, P < 0.05). Before the treatment, 36 patients (80.00％, 36/45) had positive blood culture, which turned negative after the treatment. Conclusions The epidemiologic and clinical features of preschool children with brucellosis are not typical. In the epidemic area of the disease and multiple seasons, for children with unexplained fever, the clinician should inquire about the epidemiological history and combine the clinical feature, consider the possibility of brucellosis, and strive for early diagnosis and treatment.