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Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied to confirm the diagnosis of brucellosis and to study its clearance in response to the standard treatment regimen with doxycycline and rifampin at hospitals in Callao and Lima, Peru. The PCR confirmed the diagnosis in 23 (91.7%) patients with brucellosis including 12 culture-confirmed cases. For patients treated at the hospital in Callao, PCR was positive for all samples collected during and at the conclusion of treatment and for 76.9% of follow-up samples collected on average 15.9 weeks after completion of treatment. For patients treated at the hospital in Lima, PCR tests were positive for 81.8% of samples collected during treatment, for 33.3% of samples collected at the conclusion of treatment, and for 
50% of samples collected at first, second, and third post-treatment follow-up. Thus, Brucella DNA may persist in the serum weeks to months after completion of the standard treatment regimen.
Received August 29, 2006. Accepted for publication November 1, 2006.
Acknowledgments: The authors appreciate the useful advice provided by Dr. P. Moro. The other members of the Brucellosis Working Group in Callao members are L. Castañeda-Castañeda, M. Mendoza-Núñez, E. Yagui, P. Tuesta (Hospital Nacional Daniel Alcides Carrión, Callao, Peru), and T. H. Abdoel (Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam). The authors thank Dr Stella van Beers for statistical analysis and Yvonne Ahn for assistance in editing this manuscript.
Financial support: M. Méndez, M. Mulder, and M. P. Franco were supported by the Infectious Disease Training Program in Peru (5 D43 TW006581-04), and H. L. Smits received support from EU Cost Action 845.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense, or the US government. Drs E. Hall, B. Espinosa, and D. Blazes are US military service members working at the US Navy Medical Research Center Detachment in Lima, Peru. This work was prepared as part of their official duties. Title 17 U.S.C.
105 provides that Copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government. Title 17 U.S.C. 101 defines a US Government work as a work prepared by a military service member or employee of the US Government as part of that person’s official duties.
* Address correspondence to H. L. Smits, PhD, KIT Biomedical Research, Royal Tropical Institute/Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, Meibergdreef 39, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: H.Smits{at}kit.nl
Authors’ addresses: Melissa Méndez and Milagros Zavaleta, Department of Microbiology and Pathology, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru. Nilo Bonifacio and Maria L. Castañeda, Department of Infectious Diseases, Jesús Chacaltana, Department of Epidemiology, Jennie Manrique and Elena Yagui, Department of General Microbiology, Hospital Nacional Daniel Alcides Carrión, Callao, Peru. María Pía Franco and Maximillian Mulder, A. B. Prisma, Calle Gonzales 251, Maranga, Lima 32, Peru. Robert H. Gilman, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe St. Rm W5515, Baltimore, MD 21205. Alfredo Guillen, Clinico San Borja, 333 Guardia Civil, San Borja, Lima, Peru. David L. Blazes, Benjamin Espinosa, and Eric Hall, Naval Medical Research Center Detachment, Unit 3800, APO AA 34041-3800, Lima, Peru. Kathlène S.J.S.M. Maas, Theresia H. Abdoel, and Henk L. Smits, KIT Biomedical Research, Royal Tropical Institute/Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, Meibergdreef 39. 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Telephone: 31-(0)20-5665470, Fax: 31-(0)20 6971841, E-mail: h.smits{at}kit.nl.
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