Congenital Brucellosis in a Premature Infant

Brucellamyocarditis in a 3-month-old: probable transplacental transmission

“…2 It is rare in children under 1 year of age and so transplacental/perinatal infection or transmission through breast milk should be suspected in this age group. 4,5,7 The major route of transmission of Brucella is direct contact with infected animals or intake of infected animal products. Humanto-human transmission and mother-to-infant transmission in particular is very rare.…”

“…Among the most common signs are low birthweight, fever, irritability, retarded development, jaundice, hepatomegaly and splenomegaly which may be difficult to differentiate from other bacterial infections and sepsis. 1,7 Endocarditis and myocarditis are rare but serious complications of brucellosis. In adults, the incidence of cardiac complications, mainly endocarditis, has been reported to be 0-2%.…”

Congenital brucellosis: case report

“…Human-to-human transmission after blood transfusion 1 and bone marrow transplantation 2 have been described. There are few data supporting transmission from mother to fetus [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] and transmission via breast-milk. 12, 13 We present a case of transplacentally transmitted neonatal brucellosis.…”

Neonatal brucellosis: rare and preventable

“…5,6 In endemic areas, brucellosis is particularly common in children who acquire the disease by ingesting contaminated dairy products, especially unpasteurised milk and soft cheese derived from unvaccinated bovines, sheep and goats. 7 Neonates become infected congenitally by the transplacental route in the course of a maternal bacteraemic episode, [8][9][10] by exposure to blood, urine or genital secretions during delivery, 11 and by breastfeeding; 12,13 these are also the main routes of dissemination of brucellae among mammalian reservoirs. Accidental acquisition of the disease through blood and exchange transfusion in the neonatal period has also been rarely reported.…”

“…7 The clinical picture of neonatal brucellosis comprises the usual repertoire of sepsis in early life such as fever, poor feeding, irritability, vomiting, jaundice, respiratory distress, pulmonary infiltrates, hypotension and thrombocytopenia. 8,22,23 More specific signs indicative of invasion of organs rich in reticuloendothelial cells include hepatomegaly, splenomegaly and lymphadenitis. 4 Although leucopenia is a characteristic feature of brucellosis in older children and adults, leucocytosis has been described in congenital cases.…”