Brucella infection in a child with progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 2 who had undergone liver transplantation

Abstract

Brucellosis is considered the most widespread zoonosis in the world.In endemic regions of brucellosis, childhood brucellosis includes up to one-third of all cases of human brucellosis.Brucellosis constitutes a public health problem in Turkey. A boy aged 12yr who had PFIC2 had undergone deceased-donor liver transplantation in 2008 at the age of seven. The boy presented with fatigue, fever, and pain in the right leg and hip and was admitted to the hospital. Brucella melitensis grew in the blood culture, and the SAT was positive at a titer of 1:640. The patient was treated with oral doxycycline and rifampicin for eightwk. After treatment, the patient recovered and his blood cultures became negative. The patient's mother also had a high Brucella agglutination titer of 1:320 positive and was treated in the internal medicine department with spiramycin and doxycycline. Brucella infection should be suspected inlivertransplant recipients with fever of unknown origin, especially in recipients who live in an endemic area.