After suffering from a headache for over a year, a lady was shocked to discover that her symptoms were brought on by a rare brain infection she had acquired by eating raw dairy.
The Syrian 25-year-old, who wished to remain anonymous, had been fighting the discomfort for a month, and it would become worse when she laid down.
The lady eventually went to a nearby hospital when it became too bad, and they determined that she had an active frontal headache. She was sent home with the painkillers given by the doctors.
However, as her health worsened, she had tinnitus, nausea, vomiting, impaired vision, and photophobia.
When she went back to the hospital two weeks later, they informed her that she was experiencing a typical headache.
As medical professionals searched for the underlying reason, the disease lasted for more than ten months.
Doctors eventually identified antibodies of Brucella, a bacterium often found in unpasteurized dairy, in her system after a battery of blood and cerebrospinal fluid testing.
As a result, brucellosis—a uncommon illness that may harm the liver, heart, and central nervous system—was diagnosed.
Even though she didn't exhibit typical symptoms like fever or joint pain, further testing revealed that she had Brucella meningitis, a dangerous side effect of Brucellosis that happens when the infection spreads to the brain and spinal cord.
Humans may get brucellosis from infected animals, such as cows, pigs, goats, sheep, and dogs, by breathing in the bacteria or coming into touch with their body fluids. The disease is common in the Mediterranean and Middle East.
However, the virus may also be acquired by consuming unpasteurized milk or unpasteurized milk products like fresh cheese.
Once inside the body, the bacteria slowly grow by invading tissues or lymph nodes.
The infection may cause discomfort, stiffness, swelling, and inflammation in the joints, which can develop to arthritis, damage to the heart valves, inflammation in the inner lining of the heart chambers, and limited blood flow if it is not treated.
Only around 200 cases of brucellosis are documented in the United States each year, compared to about 500,000 cases worldwide. The illness kills less than two percent of those infected with it.
Antibiotics are often used to treat brucellosis, but the bacteria may also infiltrate the central nervous system and cause meningitis, which is an inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord.
Infections and problems relating to the nerves may result from this severe harm to the brain and spinal cord.
At first, those who are affected may have excruciating headaches, disorientation, sadness, and behavioral abnormalities.
However, the infection may quickly progress and result in symptoms including fever, exhaustion, joint and muscle pain, problems with appetite, discomfort, sweating, testicular edema, and inflammation of the liver.
Since the early symptoms of brucellosis are similar to those of the flu, doctors often can't detect it until the illness has progressed.
Tests performed during her first hospital stay revealed that the sugar and protein levels in her blood and cerebrospinal fluid were normal.
Furthermore, doctors discovered no anomalies in any area of her brain or enlargement in the nerves that supply it.
If left untreated, brucellosis, a rare illness brought on by the Brucella bacterium, may harm the liver, heart, and central nervous system.
She was misdiagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension, a disorder characterized by increased pressure within the skull without a known cause, since the test findings were unambiguous.
But over the course of ten months, she kept going back to the hospital due to a crippling headache and other symptoms including crossed eyes and double vision.
Physicians started reassessing her situation. They performed a Wright test, which looks for antibodies by combining a suspension of Brucella bacteria with a patient's serum.
Doctors completed the diagnosis when this, in addition to blood and fluid testing, verified the existence of antibodies to the Brucella bacterium.
Rifampicin and doxycycline, two medicines used for eight weeks to treat a range of bacterial illnesses, were administered to the young lady.
Combinations of ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone, doxycycline and rifampin, and others may be the best way to treat brucellosis, according to experts.
Eight veterinarians, five of their pets, and two South Carolina families were exposed to Brucella a year ago when they cared for an infected dog and her pups.
It was discovered that the dog, who had been adopted into a permanent home after being brought in as a stray by a foster family, was carrying the infection. She became sterile as a result of the virus, which also killed her pups.
Humans may get Brucella canis by coming into touch with tainted dog body fluids. The foster family handled the deceased pups without wearing protective gear, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), raising concerns that they could have been infected.
By mating with an infected animal or by coming into touch with contaminated semen, vaginal, or menstrual fluids, dogs may get the infection. Pregnant dogs who are sick may pass the germs to their offspring while they are still in the womb, during delivery, or via their milk.
Human infection occurs when B. canis-contaminated material gets into an open wound or comes into touch with mucous membranes like the mouth and eyes.
Although these later pathways are less frequent, humans may potentially get B. canis via other biological material that infected dogs generate, such as urine or feces.
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