Pulmonary infections due to brucellosis in childhood

Tuberk Toraks. 2020 Mar;68(1):43-47. doi: 10.5578/tt.69015.

Abstract

Introduction: Brucellosis is widely distributed zoonotic infection. Brucellosis is a multisystemic disease but pulmonary infection due to brucellosis is very rarely reported.

Materials and methods: We retrospectively evaluated our pediatric brucellosis cases between February 2014 and December 2015. The brucellosis patients with and without pulmonary infection were compared with each other.

Result: We detected pulmonary infection in 18 of the 98 brucellosis patients. There was no statistical significant difference between the brucellosis patients with and without a pulmonary infection as regards age, gender, and animal husbandry history. The laboratory findings including the Brucella Coombs agglutination titers were also similar. The most common chest X-ray findings were interstitial infiltration and hilar lymphadenopathy. All of our cases with pulmonary infection recovered with the usual anti-brucella treatment.

Conclusions: Brucellosis may cause a pulmonary infection more often than thought. The prognosis of respiratory brucellosis is good and the classic treatment regimen is appropriate.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brucella
  • Brucellosis / diagnosis*
  • Brucellosis / pathology*
  • Child
  • Coombs Test
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Lung Diseases, Interstitial / parasitology*
  • Male
  • Respiratory Tract Infections / parasitology*
  • Retrospective Studies