Brucella meningoencephalitis in childhood.

An 11-year-old girl developed a subacute illness characterized by fever, malaise, depression, and meningoencephalitis. The etiology remained elusive until her agglutinin titer against Brucella abortus rose from 1:20 to 1:320. Brucellosis is an uncommon illness in children, an neurological involvement has been described in only ten cases. Brucella meningoencephalitis is characterized by a lymphocytic pleocytosis and elevated protein in the cerebrospinal fluid. Patients respond well to specific therapy; it is important, therefore, to consider the diagnosis of brucellosis in patients with subacute meningitis of unexplained etiology.