CLINICAL CASES   

Gazzetta Medica Italiana Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2000 June;159(3):103-5

Copyright © 2000 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Colitis due to Brucella melitensis. A case report.

Pellicanò S. ¹, Calzone R. ², Dattola O. L. ¹, Mandica D. ², Ciliberto E. ³, Frandina C. ³, Terra L. ¹

¹ Regione Calabria - A.S.L. n. 5, Ospedale «S. Giovanni di Dio», Divisione di Malattie Infettive - Crotone; ² Regione Calabria - A.S.L. n. 5, Ospedale «S. Giovanni di Dio», Dietista; ³ Regione Calabria - A.S.L. n. 5, Ospedale «S. Giovanni di Dio», Servizio di Gastroenterologia Endoscopia Digestiva

Brucellosis is a zoonosis due to Brucella’s kind schizomycetes. Infection is contracted especially with raw milk and its derivatives, as buttermilk, curd and fresh cheese. Evening fever and, especially in the past, profuse sweating with disgusting scent of hay or urine’s mouse are typical symptomatology. A case of brucellosis colitis in a 22-year-old girl is described. Symptomatolgy was characterized by diarrhea with rectal bleeding without fever. Widal-Wright reaction was positive for Brucella melitensis (1:10240) and erosive lesions of the colon were observed by endoscopy and histopathologic examination. A dietetic treatment associated with tetracycline (2 g/die) and Streptomycin (1 g/die) was successful. The rarity of the clinical picture and the importance of prolonged blood cultures for patients whose serologic tests are negative, but brucellosis is epidemiologically suspected, are emphasized.