Brucellosis

General characteristic of a disease

The brucellosis is an infectious disease which is caused by sort bacteria a brucella. The infection is characterized by a long, chronic current, defeat of the bone and joint device, a nervous system and heart. The causative agent of a brucellosis is widespread in natural medium, well transfers low temperatures, keeps productive capacity even at long stay in water and the soil. Live in food stuffs of a bacterium from 2 (cow's milk) to 5 (the frozen meat) months. When using specifics of a brucella perish within several minutes.

As a rule, the brucellosis comes to light at domestic animals, meat and which milk we eat. The causative agent of a brucellosis gets into a human body through mucous membranes of bodies of digestive and respiratory systems. Also the brucellosis can be brought through fresh scratches, grazes and other injuries. It is especially characteristic of people whose work is connected with processing of skin and wool or with patient care by animals. In risk group there are veterinarians, shepherds, milkmaids, livestock specialists.

What occurs at infection?

Having got into an organism, brucellas quickly extend on a body via lymphatic channels and blood vessels. Soon the new centers of an infection appear in a liver, a spleen, marrow, lymph nodes. Along with it the brucellosis at the person affects the central nervous system, a musculoskeletal system and generative organs. In response to action of bacteria defense reactions of an organism join, but, as a rule, the immune system is not capable to provide bacteriological clarification of blood and lymph nodes because of continuous transformation of activators. It means, at the diagnosis a brucellosis treatment has to be carried out not in house conditions, and in profile departments of clinics. Otherwise, the brucellosis will develop into a chronic form, and it will be far more difficult to cope with it. Let's notice also that the chronic brucellosis often is followed by immunopathological manifestations, provoking emergence and growth of whole "bunch" of other diseases.

Brucellosis – symptoms and a clinical picture

During a primary and latent form the brucellosis at the person practically proves nothing. Characteristic symptoms of a brucellosis appear only after an incubation interval (in 1-5 weeks) when the disease flows in an ostroseptichesky or chronic form.

The acute brucellosis at the person has the following symptoms:

• fervescence (high temperature can keep up to 3 weeks);
• plentiful sweating;
• fever;
• fever;
• increase in peripheral lymph nodes.

In certain cases treatment of a brucellosis at the person comes to an end with an absolute recovery, but quite often there is also the return process when the disease passes into a septiko-metastatic form. In this case the patient suffers from regular feverish attacks, the expressed intoxication, diffusion joint pains, sleep disorders, a headache. The brucellosis which symptoms testify about defeat of the main systems of an organism leads to serious complications: to myocardites, meningitis, hepatitis, an endocarditis, abortions on early durations of gestation. After 6 months (this term in many respects conditional) the acute form of a brucellosis flows in chronic.

First of all, the chronic brucellosis at the person is characterized by focal defeats. Most often large joints – coxofemoral, elbow, knee suffer from an infection. Also patients are disturbed by the following symptoms of a brucellosis:

• persistent pains in the first half of day;
• deformation of joints and joints;
• feeling of constraint;
• neuritis, radiculitises and other defeats of a nervous system;
• can be shown: meningitis, damages of visual and acoustical nerves, encephalomeningitis.

At a chronic form of a brucellosis at the person focal changes in generative organs quite often lead to infertility at women and to decrease in sexual function at men. After a while the infection gradually passes into a remission stage, but leaves behind irreversible changes of a musculoskeletal system. For this reason patients with the diagnosis a chronic brucellosis (diagnosis of a disease has to be carried out only by experienced doctors) need hospitalization and adequate treatment which will reduce risk of an invalidism.

Brucellosis – treatment of a disease

At an ostroseptichesky form at treatment of a brucellosis to patients are appointed:

• causal treatment;
• reception of antibiotics of tetracycline group – rifampicin, levomycetinum, streptomycin. Drugs which well get in cells, for example, doxycycline orally or streptomycin intramusculary are recommended;
• physiotherapeutic and sanatorium treatment (not earlier than in 6 months after disappearance of clinical symptoms).

At the diagnosis a chronic brucellosis treatment is based on use of fortifying actions and vaccinotherapy. The forecast in most cases favorable, however, should be remembered that the brucellosis quite often leads to disability.

Prevention of an infection is directed to decrease in incidence of domestic animals and the cattle by a brucellosis. For this purpose specialists hold sanitary and veterinary events during which the causative agent of a brucellosis almost always perishes. Specific prevention consists in use of antibrucella vaccines. They are regularly done not only to animals, but also workers of livestock production, the staff of meat-processing plants and representatives of other professions connected with processing of meat or processing of skins and furs.