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Background and objectives: Brucellosis continues a most important health problem in numerous parts of the world and in the Middle East regions is a significant origin of acute febrile illness. This study was conducted to determine Brucella antibodies among patients with PUO, the association of brucellosis with demographic characteristics, identify clinical symptoms and risk factors for Brucella infection among PUO cases. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional research study was conducted in two health institutions; Al-Jumhouri Hospital and Al-Thawra Hospital, between January 2021 to January 2022. The required data were gathered from each patient by using pre-defined standardized questionnaire. Five mL of sterile whole blood was collected from each patient and then tested for Brucella antibodies using a standard tubular agglutination test. The data were then analyzed using the statistical software Epi Info version 6. Results: Among the 241 PUO patients, females were 72.2% and males 27.8%. The mean ± SD for total age was 28.8±15.8 years. The rate of Brucella antibody among patients with PUO was 29%, females 78.6% higher than males by 21.4%. Clinical characteristics of PUO patients were persistent fever (36.9%), intermittent fever (63.1%), sweating (63.5%), shivering (61.4%), joint pain (78.4%), muscle pain (78.4%), back pain (74.7) back head pain (66.4%), headache (60.4%), weight loss (52.9%), body weakness (89.2%), loss of appetite (50.6%), and nausea (46.1%). The risk factors for brucellosis among the PUO patients was handling of animals during parturition (69.2%, OR=7, p |
