Coincidence of acute <i>Brucella</i> hepatitis and dengue fever or serologic cross-reactivity?

Abstract

Hepatic involvement in brucellosis is not uncommon since 10-20% of patient infected with brucella species can have abnormal liver function tests. The usual presentation of brucella hepatitis is in the form of chronic granulomatous hepatitis with mild to moderate elevation of liver enzymes, while acute hepatitis is rare. We report a young patient who presented with acute brucella-induced hepatitis and co-infection with dengue hemorrhagic virus resulting in severe elevation of liver enzymes and absence of granuloma on histology. His mother also simultaneously tested positive for both infections. The patient responded well to anti-brucella therapy with normalization of his liver profile. We discuss, herein, the hepatic involvement of these two infections and discuss the possible serological cross-reactivity between brucella and dengue fever virus.

Keywords

• Brucellosis
• cross-reactivity
• dengue fever
• hepatitis
• serum transaminase