Abstract:
Objective
To provide reference for clinical practice and improve understanding about brucellosis in children by reporting the clinical data of 5 patients diagnosed with brucellosis in non-epidemic area,and analyzing the characteristics of the disease and the diagnostic and therapeutic process in order to reduce misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis.
Methods
Five confirmed cases of brucellosis treated in Luoyang Central Hospital between Jan. 2013 and Dec. 2015 were retrospectively analyzed,including their epidemiology，clinical manifestations，laboratory test results,diagnostic process and prognosis.
Results
Five cases consisted of three boys and two girls,3 preschool children and 2 school-aged children,all coming from local rural areas and had a history of contacting sheep or sheep-related products. The most common manifestation was fever which occurred in all cases. Fever process was between 10 to 45 days.Except for 1 case whose fever type was undulant fever，all the rest had irregular fever.Joint pain existed in 1 case,profuse sweating in 1 case,hepatosplenomegaly in 2 cases, impaired liver function in 3 cases.The brucella agglutination test was positive in 5 cases.The blood culture was positive in 1 case of all cases.C-reactive protein was increased in 2 cases (19.1,15 mg/L).ESR was increased in 2 cases (34,25 mm/h). There was one case of arthritis.
Conclusion
The incidence of brucellosis is low in children,which is usually presented with various clinical manifestations and lack of specificity in laboratory examination.For children with fever of unknown origin which does not respond to general antibiotic treatment this disease should be considered. Pay special attention to epidemiology history and relevant examination of brucellosis，which is helpful to the early diagnosis.

Key words: Brucellosis, Epidemiology, Child