title: An uncommon case of acute brucellosis presenting with severe thrombocytopenia.
abstract: A 49-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with complaints of fatigue, epistaxis and a skin rash. The whole blood count revealed isolated thrombocytopenia (4,000/mL), and the patient was admitted to the hematology department with a diagnosis of immune thrombocytopenia. He did not respond to steroid treatment for 15 days, and a subfebrile fever developed during this period. A diagnosis of acute brucellosis was considered due to positive serological tests and a blood culture positive for Brucella spp. After starting doxycycline and rifampicin therapy, the patient's thrombocyte count increased to 15,000/mL on the third day, to 41,000/mL on the sixth day and was normal on the 21st day of treatment. A diagnosis of brucellosis must be considered in patients presenting with severe and isolated thrombocytopenia in countries where brucellosis is endemic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Inonu University School of Medicine, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sirvan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Elmas Dal
authors.forename: Yasemin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ersoy
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ali Erkurt
authors.forename: Funda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yetkin
authors.forename: Cigdem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kuzucu
authors.forename: Ozlem
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Akdogan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004318:Doxycycline / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D016553:Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic / Q000175:diagnosis; D012293:Rifampin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology*; D014421:Turkey; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004318:Doxycycline; D012293:Rifampin