Epidemiologic features and laboratory findings of acute and chronic brucellosis

Abstract

Objective To analyze the epidemiologic features and laboratory findings of acute and chronic brucellosis. Methods Two hundred and ninety-two patients with brucellosis admitted in Heilongjiang Agricultural Reclamation Bureau General Hospital during June 2015 to February 2017 were retrospectively reviewed, including 170 acute cases and 122 chronic cases; 95 healthy subjects undergoing health check-up at the same period were randomly selected as control group. Epidemiological characteristics, clinical symptoms and findings of laboratory tests of acute and chronic brucellosis were analyzed with SPSS 18.0 software. Results The male to female ratio were 3.15 to 1 and 3.21 to 1 for acute and chronic brucellosis, respectively. The patients were mainly rural residents (74.12% and 77.05%) and the majority of them were farmers (62.94% and 66.39%). The onset time was mainly from March to June of the year (47.06% and 46.72%). The proportion of acute brucellosis patients ≤14 years was higher than that of chronic brucellosis group (χ2=5.022, P 64 years old was lower than that of chronic brucellosis group (χ2=3.900, P<0.05). The symptom of sweating and myosalgia in acute brucellosis was more frequent than that in chronic brucellosis (χ2=10.764 and 10.479, both P <0.01); while the symptom of weakness in chronic brucellosis was higher than that in acute brucellosis (χ2=5.347, P<0.05). The AST, ALT, γ-GT, ALP, LDH and HBDH levels in patients with acute and chronic brucellosis were significantly higher than those in the control group (t=3.602 and 5.205; 2.529 and 2.682; 2.669 and 1.941; 5.169 and 7.068; 3.601 and 2.240; 3.469 and 3.954; P<0.05 or 0.01); while TP and ALB levels were reduced (t=-5.880 and -8.923; -8.106 and -8.774; all P<0.01). The CRP in the acute brucellosis group was significantly higher than that in the chronic brucellosis group (t=6.717, P<0.01). The therapeutic regimes for acute brucellosis and chronic brucellosis were same, the symptoms dissolved after successful treatment. Conclusion There are different clinical manifestations between acute and chronic brucellosis. Medication for brucellosis should be cautious and the changes of myocardial enzymes should be monitored. Key words: Brucellosis; Acute brucellosis; Chronic brucellosis; Epidemiologic characteristics; Laboratory examination