Tularemia in children during the last outbreak in Kosovo

Tularemia is a zoonotic disease that primarily affects adults and children in rural areas. Late diagnosis in children is often associated with treatment failure and accessory surgical procedures.

To analyze the diagnostic and treatment options of pediatric tularemia during the last outbreak in Kosovo during years 2014 and 2015.

This retrospective study includes 36 children treated for Tularemia at pediatric department. The diagnosis was based on clinical, serological, and PCR testing.

Of the 230 patients treated for tularemia, 36 (16%) were children with a median age of 9.4 years old (range 2-15 years). Major clinical manifestations included fever (97%) and swelling of lymph glands (94%), and the duration of symptoms prior to hospitalization was two weeks (range 3-60 days). Leukocytosis (41%), along with an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (97%) characterized the laboratory findings. Both serology and PCR were used to confirm tularemia in children in 100% of cases. Due to abscess formation, suppuration, and high prevalence of tuberculosis, surgical procedures were used as accessory therapy and for diagnosis in half of the patients (50%). Gentamycin was the first drug of choice (97%), while 3 patients experienced relapses. Since the majority of the patients (72%) used unsafe water from wells in rural regions, the outbreak was thought to be water-related.

Every febrile child with swollen glands should be suspected of having tularemia. Gentamycin continues to be the preferred treatment for unilateral cervical glandular type. Successful therapy depends on early diagnosis and supplemental surgical procedures.