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Neuropediatrics 1981; 12(4): 330-336
DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1059665
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

BRUCELLA MENINGOENCEPHALITIS IN CHILDHOOD

H. M. Swick
  • Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Children's Hospital, PO Box 1997, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA
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Publication History

Publication Date:
19 March 2008 (online)

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Abstract

An 11-year-old girl developed a subacute illness characterized by fever, malaise, depression, and meningoencephalitis. The etiology remained elusive until her agglutinin titer against Brucella abortus rose from 1: 20 to 1: 320.
Brucellosis is an uncommon illness in children, and neurological involvement has been described in only ten cases. Brucella meningoencephalitis is characterized by a lymphocytic pleocytosis and elevated protein in the cerebrospinal fluid. Patients respond well to specific therapy; it is important, therefore, to consider the diagnosis of brucellosis in patients with subacute meningitis of unexplained etiology.

Key words

Brucellosis meningoencephalitis