Recurrent Pyrexia, Brucellosis, Underdiagnosis: The Puzzle Triad Untangled By Blood Cultures - The Benchmark Tool Coming To Aid

Introduction: Human brucellosis, a zoonotic disease is common in India. In spite of high prevalence, the disease usually remains under diagnosed or misdiagnosed.Aim: To evaluate & establish the significance of blood culture for diagnosis of brucellosis.Materials & Method: A study of 10 patients of brucellosis diagnosed by blood culture were evaluated retrospectively, for the various clinical & laboratory profiles, during the period of 2014-17. Results: All the ten patients, positive for brucellosis by blood culture were having history of fever. Other clinical presentations were - abdominal pain (n=6,60%), vomiting (n=5,50%), headache (n=1,10 %), generalized body ache (n=1,10%), anorexia (n=1,10%), joint pain (n=1,10%), cough (n= 1,10%), mild splenomegaly (n=2,20%), mild hepatomegaly (n=1,10%), mild to gross hepatosplenomegaly (n=3,30%). In all the cases, Brucella spp. were recovered from patient's blood culture & identified within 7 days of sample collection. The time-to- detection of BACTEC blood culture system (positive indication) was 3-5 days. Conclusion: A high level of clinical suspicion & proper blood culture remains the gold standard for early diagnosis of brucellosis.

Citation

Shah Urvesh V., Dhamecha Manisha N., Patel Neha, Bloch Afroz, Mehta Shivani, Shah Shruti. Recurrent Pyrexia, Brucellosis, Underdiagnosis: The Puzzle Triad Untangled By Blood Cultures - The Benchmark Tool Coming To Aid. GCSMC Journal of Medical Sciences journal. 2017 Jan; 6(1): 18-21

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https://imsear.searo.who.int/handle/123456789/189756

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GCSMC Journal of Medical Sciences

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