[Pediatric brucellosis : A case report and literature review]

Brucellosis is an overlooked infection of widespread geographic distribution. This disease is rarely evoked when assessing unexplained pediatric fever, and only 20-30 cases (children and adults) are confirmed per year. Risk factors for contracting brucellosis are exposure to bodily fluids and consumption of unpasteurized dairy products from infected animals. Most cases of brucellosis are associated with traveling to or importing contaminated goods from endemic areas. Here, we report a case of brucellosis in a 16-month-old patient hospitalized for an acute febrile illness in a French general pediatric ward. An antibiotic regimen of rifampicin and co-trimoxazole given over 6 weeks led to successful cure without relapse. The child had eaten a cake made from unpasteurized goat's milk and imported from Oran, a region in Algeria. His mother had consumed the same cake and was hospitalized for brucellosis 15 days later. Clinicians should suspect brucellosis when encountering febrile patients who have traveled to endemic areas, been exposed to body fluids or products of abortion of farm animals, or consumed unpasteurized products.