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Brucellosis in children
Last reviewed: 05.07.2025
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Brucellosis in children is an acute or chronic infectious-allergic disease with prolonged fever, damage to the musculoskeletal, nervous, cardiovascular and other body systems.
Code according to MHB-10
- A23.0 Brucellosis caused by Brucella melitensis.
- A23.1 Brucellosis caused by Brucella abortus.
- A23.2 Brucellosis due to Brucella suis.
- A23.3 Brucellosis caused by Brucella canis.
- A23.8 Other forms of brucellosis.
- A23.9 Brucellosis, unspecified.
Epidemiology
Brucellosis is a typical zoonotic infection. In natural conditions, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, etc. are affected by brucellosis. Humans can become infected during lambing and calving of animals with brucellosis, as well as when consuming infected meat, milk, cheese, and other food products. Milk consumed raw, as well as sheep's cheese, are especially common causes of infection. Wool, skin, bristles, and other livestock products contaminated with excrements of sick animals are dangerous. Contact and aerosol routes of infection are possible. Children often become infected through foodborne infection when consuming raw milk, dairy products, and other products. Contact transmission is relatively rare, mainly in foci of sheep brucellosis. In these cases, children become infected mainly through the skin and mucous membranes. The aerosol route is possible when shearing animals, combing out fluff, and also when cleaning rooms and areas where animals are kept and raw materials are processed. Transmission of infection from a sick person to a healthy person does not occur. Transmission of infection with mother's milk has not been proven.
Brucellosis affects children of all ages. The highest incidence is observed in children of primary school age. Children in their first year of life rarely get sick due to less contact with sick animals and nutritional characteristics. Susceptibility to brucellosis has not been precisely established.
[ Causes of brucellosis
There are six known species of brucellosis pathogens: Br. melitensis affects mainly small cattle, Br. abortus bovis - mainly cattle, Br. abortus suis - pigs, Br. ovis - rams, Br. canis - dogs, Br. neotomae - rats. Each of these species is divided into biotypes.
Symptoms of brucellosis
The incubation period is from 7 to 40 days, in vaccinated patients it can be extended to 2 months. In children, the disease often begins acutely with a rise in body temperature. Patients complain of headache, weakness, increased fatigue, pain in the joints and muscles, loss of appetite, sleep disturbances, and possible chills alternating with sweating. In cases with a gradual onset, the disease manifests itself as malaise, weakness, increased fatigue, mild headache and loss of appetite. After 5-7 days, the leading symptom of brucellosis appears - fever. It can be constant, remittent, undulating or subfebrile. In children, a prolonged subfebrile temperature is more common.
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Treatment of brucellosis
In the acute period, antibiotics are used, usually chloramphenicol, tetracycline, erythromycin, rifampicin and other drugs, in an age-appropriate dose for 7-10 days. The course of treatment is often repeated after 2 weeks, less often a third course is carried out. Antibiotics have a pronounced antimicrobial effect, but do not prevent exacerbations, relapses and the formation of a chronic process. Antibiotic treatment is supplemented with vaccine therapy. Killed brucellosis vaccine is administered intramuscularly, starting with a dose of 100,000-500,000 microbial bodies (in an individual dose for each patient) with an interval of 2-5 days. The course of vaccine therapy consists of 8-10 injections. The duration of the intervals between injections and subsequent doses are determined by the severity of the post-vaccination reaction. The vaccine can also be administered subcutaneously and intravenously.
Drugs
Prevention of brucellosis
In the fight against brucellosis, it is crucial to eliminate the source of infection among domestic animals: identifying sick animals, prophylactic vaccination of cattle and small ruminants, and improving the health of livestock farms. Prevention of foodborne infections is necessary. Food products from farms unfavorable for brucellosis must be thoroughly heat treated before consumption: milk and cream are pasteurized at a temperature of 70 °C for 30 minutes, meat is boiled for 3 hours, cheese and feta cheese are aged for at least 2 months. A vaccine against brucellosis is also used.
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