A comparison between doxycycline-rifampin and ciprofloxacin-rifampin regimens in the treatment of acute Brucellosis

Introduction: Brucellosis, a serious zoonosis, is a widespread disease in many countries, especially the developing ones, with an annual report of 500,000 new cases to the World Health Organization (WHO). Although successful results have been achieved by the combination therapies recommended by the WHO, their relapse rates have been high, and therefore, the most effective agents with least side-effects are still undetermined. Materials and Methods: An observational study has been prospectively carried out from 2007 to 2010 in the Infectious Clinics of Hashemi-nejad and Imam Reza Hospitals, Mashhad, Iran. In this study, among the patients of brucellosis, whose diseases were recently diagnosed, 50 patients, receiving one of the two common authentic regimens of doxycycline plus rifampin for eight weeks or ciprofloxacin plus rifampin for six weeks, were selected. The diagnosis was based on the presence of signs and symptoms compatible with brucellosis, including a positive Wright and 2ME tests, with titers equal to or more than 1/160 and 1/40 respectively. Results: The cure rate was the same for the groups ( P =0.55). However, the relapse rate was much more for the latter ( P = 0.02). Conclusion: Doxycycline plus rifampin was considered better than ciprofloxacin plus rifampin for the treatment of acute brucellosis.