文本框: BRUCELLOSIS IN CHILDHOOD IN WESTERN GREECE Eliopoulou M, Giannakopoulos J, Papanastasiou DA Department of Pediatrics, Medical School, Patras University, Greece Objective: Determination of epidemiologic, clinical and laboratory features of Brucellosis in childhood in Western Greece Methods: We performed a retrospective statistical data analysis of patients with Brucellosis treated in our Clinic from 1/1/90 until 31/12/00. Results: Fifty two patients with Brucellosis -mean age 10.2±4.5 years (range 1 month to 16 years),- were treated during the last decade; thirty two of them (67%) were boys. Out of the 52 patients 7 (13.5%) were living in urban areas, 7 (13.5%) in rurban and 38 (73%) in rural areas. History of sheep or goats contact or ingestion of raw milk or its products was reported in 76% of cases. Agglutination titers (Wright) >1:160 and positive blood cultures were found in 87.5% and 42% of patients, respectively. Clinical manifestations were fever 35/52 (81%), arthralgia 37/52(71%), hepatomegaly 36/52 (69%), splenomegaly 25/52 (48%), lymphadenopathy 15/52 (29%) and arthritis 6/52 (12%). In younger children the blood cultures were more often positive than in older ones (F=6.98, p=0.0116), whereas there was a positive correlation of age and agglutination titers (F=9.51, p=0.0035). There was a statistically significant relation between the number of lymphocytes and the number of WBC (r2=0.835, p<0.0001). The total duration of therapy was 28±13 days (range 11 to 85 days), the duration of parenteral treatment 11±7 days (range 1 to 26 days). All patients were treated with a combination of two antibiotics, 25 out of 52 (48%) with doxycycline and streptomycin. Relapse was observed in one patient, whereas 5 patients were treated in our clinic because of relapse after monotherapy in other hospitals. Conclusion: Brucellosis is a major medical problem for children in rural areas with high risk factors. Younger children are at increased risk, because they have more often positive blood cultures and lower antibody titers. Relapses are rare after appropriate antibiotic treatment. 1919