Objective The interpretation of serologic tests in brucellosis can be difficult because of nonspecific symptoms and vague signs of disease, and limitations of serological tests to distinguish persistent and cleared infection. Here, we evaluated the role of Brucellacapt test in conjunction with Rose Bengal test (RBT) in the follow-up of children treated for brucellosis.

Methods A total of 174 children diagnosed with brucellosis were included in the study. Data about demographic characteristics of patients, clinical and laboratory findings including Brucellacapt and RBT results, therapeutic approach, and response to treatment were collected from medical records.

Results Of the 174 cases, 109 (62.6%) were boys and 65 (37.4%) were girls. The mean age of children at the diagnosis was 122 ± 54 months. Sixty-four cases were excluded from the study for loss to follow-up. The follow-up period for the remained 110 cases was 4.3 ± 2.9 months. Eleven cases (10%) had persistent illness, 7 (6.4%) had recurrence/relapse, and 92 had favorable outcome. During the follow-up, Brucellacapt titers did not drop under 1/320 in cases with persistent illness, and it increased again to 1/320 in cases with relapses at average 6.1 months after treatment. In 48 of cases with favorable outcome, Brucellacapt titers decreased to 1/160 in average 3.3 ± 1.8 months; in 35 cases, RBT became negative in average 3.8 ± 2.5 months, and there was no statistically significant difference between them (p = 0.241). In cases with higher Brucellacapt titers on admission, decrement of titers took longer time.

Conclusion Persistent serological titers without clinical findings of brucellosis should not lead physician to prolong or repeat treatment because the decline in Brucellacapt titers and RBT negativity may be delayed in contrast to clinical recovery.

目的 由于非特异性症状和疾病的模糊征兆，以及难以区分持续性和清除性感染的血清学检查的局限性，很难解释布鲁氏菌病的血清学检查。在这里，我们评估了Brucellacapt检验与Rose Bengal检验（RBT）一起在治疗布鲁氏菌病的儿童中的作用。

方法 总共纳入174名被诊断患有布鲁氏菌病的儿童。从病历中收集了有关患者的人口统计学特征，临床和实验室检查结果（包括Brucellacapt和RBT结果），治疗方法以及对治疗的反应的数据。

结果 174例中，男109例，占62.6％，女65例，占37.4％。诊断时儿童的平均年龄为122±54个月。因失访而被排除在研究之外的有64例。其余110例的随访时间为4.3±2.9个月。11例（10％）患有持续性疾病，7例（6.4％）具有复发/复发，92例具有良好的预后。在随访过程中，持续性疾病患者的布鲁氏菌滴度未降至1/320以下，而在治疗后平均6.1个月复发的情况下，其再次升高至1/320。在48例预后良好的病例中，布鲁氏菌素滴度平均降低3.3 / 1.8个月至1/160；在35例患者中，平均3.8±2.5个月，RBT呈阴性，并且两者之间无统计学差异（p = 0.241）。如果入院时具有较高的Brucellacapt滴度，则滴度降低需要更长的时间。

结论 没有布鲁氏菌病临床发现的持续血清滴度不应该导致医师延长或重复治疗，因为与临床恢复相反，布鲁氏菌滴度的下降和RBT阴性可能会延迟。