epidemiological, clinical, and treatment aspects of brucellosis in khorramabad, iran

background: brucellosis as a zoonosis is still a public health problem in many countries such as iran. to perform preventive, control, and eradication policies about the disease, we need the exact epidemiologic information and patterns of brucellosis in the country. in this study, we investigated the epidemiological, clinical, and treatment aspects of diseases in patients who had a record in shohada hospital in khorramabad, iran. methods: this descriptive analytical study was performed on 126 patients with brucellosis admitted to shohada hospital in khorramabad during 2005-2010. findings: among all evaluated patients, 57.9% were male and 73% lived in rural regions. a significant difference was seen between the mean age of urban and rural patients. a history of unpasteurized dairy products consumption was reported by 37.7% of the patients. a significant difference was seen in the type of primary diagnosis between rural and urban regions. the drug regimen including combined rifampin and doxycycline was the most frequent treatment strategy. conclusion: brucellosis controlling is primarily based on disease prevention. due to the high prevalence of the disease among rural men and women, education for prevention of contact with animals and unpasteurized dairy can be helpful.