Case report: Brucellosis: a re-emerging disease in Thailand.
Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease prevalent in many countries, but it has been reported only once in Thailand, 36 years ago. We describe here two consecutive cases of brucellosis in Bangkok, Thailand. Both cases presented with prolonged fever and weight loss. Blood cultures taken from 2 patients yielded Brucella melitensis. The slide agglutination test of blood samples were also positive, with a titer of 1:64 for antibodies to Brucella. The first patient responded to a combination of doxycycline, gentamicin, and ciprofloxacin; the other responded to doxycycline and rifampicin. Brucellosis is a potential public health threat, therefore, preventive measures should be actively implemented. This clinical syndrome should be included in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with prolonged fever, particularly those with contact to animals which could serve as reservoirs.
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand. drweerawat@hotmail.com
Weerawat
W
Manosuthi
Thanason
T
Thummakul
Asda
A
Vibhagool
Malai
M
Vorachit
Kumthorn
K
Malathum
D000328:Adult; D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D017347:Brucella melitensis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013785:Thailand; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents