Comparison between Efficacy of Ciprofioxacin -Doxycycline with Rifampin - Doxycycline Regimens inrelapse of Brucellosis

Brucellosis is one of the endemic diseases in Iran that has a worldwide spread and is associated with chronic disabilities in humans. Combination therapy of Brucellosis leads to recovery of symptoms, shortening of the symptomatic intervals, and decrease in the rate of relapse and drug resistance. Considering the use of rifampin in the treatment of tuberculosis, and the necessity for an alternative treatment in regions endemic for both tuberculosis and brucellosis, the aim ofthis study was to compare the efficiency of the regimen of rifampin-Doxycycline with ciprofloxacin-Doxycycline in relapse of brucellosis. This randomized controlled trial was performed on 90 patients, older than 17 years old, affected with brucellosis, which were referred to the Infectious Disease Clinics at ArakUniversity of medical sciences between the years 1384-1387. The patients were randomly divided into two groups: the DR groups, receiving 100 mg of Doxycycline twice a day and 300 mg of rifampin Bid daily for eight weeks; and the CD group, receiving 100 mg of Doxycycline plus 500 mg of ciprofloxacin twice a day for eight weeks. The patients were analyzed for the relief of symptoms, drug side effects, and laboratory findings during the treatment. In this study, the rate of relapse in both groups were similar. The relapse was seen in 4.5% and 3.2% of the patients for the DR and CD groups, respectively (P=0.168). The drug side effects were slight in both of groups, with no significant difference, and did not lead to discontinuation of the therapy. According to the same rate of relapse in both CD and DR regimens in the treatment of brucellosis and considering the usage of rifampin in regions with high prevalence of tuberclusis, the CD regimen is recommended as an appropriate one.