Epidemiological Features, Clinical Manifestation and Laboratory Findings of Patients With Brucellosis

Background: Brucellosis as a zoonotic infectious disease is endemic in Iran and due to the variation in clinical and laboratory findings, its diagnosis is often delayed. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine clinical and laboratory aspects of the disease in Khuzestan. Patients and Methods: Medical records of 81 admitted patients with a diagnosis of brucellosis were reviewed. The study took place at Razi Hospital, a teaching hospital where infectious patients of Khuzestan are refereed. Clinical and laboratory findings of patients were reviewed. Diagnosis of brucellosis was made by measuring Brucella antibodies in the presence of clinical findings suggestive of brucellosis. Wright and mercapto-ethanol (2 ME) with titers more than 1/80 were considered positive. Results: The most common symptoms of the disease in this study were fever (85.2%), joint pain (72.9%), chills (42%) and sweating (37%). The most common signs in this study were arthritis (9.9%), tachycardia (6.2%) and tenderness in the lumbar spine (4.9%). Furthermore, the most common laboratory findings were normal white blood count (WBC) (94.82%), anemia (75.3%) and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (75.3%). Conclusions: In the studied region, when dealing with patients complaining of fever, chills, sweating and joint pain associated with normal WBC count and anemia, brucellosis should be placed on top of the differential diagnosis list and patients should be examined for Brucella serological evaluation.