The Nature of Human Brucellosis in Kuwait: Study of 379 Cases

• Published in: Reviews of infectious diseases Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 211 - 217
• Main Authors: Abdul Rahman M. Mousa, Kamal M. Elhag, Khogali, Mustafa, Amin A. Marafie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL University of Chicago Press 01-01-1988
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Antibodies, Bacterial - analysis; Bacterial diseases; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Brucella - immunology; Brucellosis; Brucellosis - drug therapy; Brucellosis - epidemiology; Brucellosis - immunology; Child; Child, Preschool; Epidemiology; Female; Fever; Hospital admissions; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Infant; Infections; Infectious diseases; International Notes; Kuwait; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Nervous system diseases; Raw milk; Relapse; Seasons; Symptoms; Tropical bacterial diseases; Tropical medicine; Kuwait; Infection; Human; Infection modality; Antibiotic; Chemotherapy; Asia; Bacteriosis; Brucellosis; Kuwait; Epidemiology; Feeding; Milk
• ISSN: 0162-0886

Three hundred seventy-nine Kuwaiti patients with brucellosis were admitted to Adan General Hospital, Kuwait, during the period 1984-1985. Of these 231 were males and 148 were females. Diagnosis was based on symptoms and signs compatible with the disease and on the detection of significantly elevated antibody titer and/or positive blood culture. The primary means of exposure were the consumption of raw milk and contact with goats, sheep, or camels. Patients most frequently presented with fever (91%), chills (40%), sweats (39%), gastrointestinal symptoms (30%), headache (23%), respiratory symptoms (23%), and musculoskeletal symptoms (22%). The major signs were osteoarticular involvement (37%), hepatosplenomegaly (27%), and lymphadenopathy (9%). Different regimens of treatment were used, but the highest rate of cure was achieved with triple therapy - tetracycline, streptomycin, and rifampin.