Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. May 26, 2021; 9(15): 3649-3654
Published online May 26, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i15.3649
Brucellosis of unknown origin with haemophagocytic syndrome: A case report
Li-Hong Tian, Zhi-Gao Dong, Xu-Yan Chen, Lian-Jiang Huang, Ping-Ping Xiao
Li-Hong Tian, Zhi-Gao Dong, Xu-Yan Chen, Ping-Ping Xiao, Department of Hematology and Rheumatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen Medical College, Xiamen 361021, Fujian Province, China
Lian-Jiang Huang, Department of Laboratory, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen Medical College, Xiamen 361021, Fujian Province, China
Author contributions: Tian LH and Xiao PP contributed equally; Dong ZG and Chen XY managed the patient in the hospital; Tian LH collected the patient’s clinical data; Huang LJ collected the laboratory data; Xiao PP drafted and revised the manuscript; All authors approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Xiamen Medical and Health Guidance Project, No. 3502Z20199137.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for the inclusion of his clinical details for publication.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ping-Ping Xiao, MD, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Hematology and Rheumatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen Medical College, No. 566 Shengguang Road, Jimei District, Xiamen 361021, Fujian Province, China. xiaopp0026@163.com
Received: October 25, 2020
Peer-review started: October 25, 2020
First decision: January 17, 2021
Revised: January 27, 2021
Accepted: March 15, 2021
Article in press: March 15, 2021
Published online: May 26, 2021
Processing time: 197 Days and 22.7 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Most patients of brucellosis present with a clear infection source. However, our patient showed a rare case presentation of haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis with no clear infection source and unremarkable medical history. Our findings suggest that brucellosis cannot be excluded in patients with clinically unexplained fever, even in those without epidemiologic history. To prevent timely exacerbation of the disease, before obtaining the aetiology test results, the administered antibiotics should cover rare pathogens, such as Brucella.