Ginseng Efficacy in the Clinical Improvement of Brucellosis

Background and study aim: Brucellosis is one of the most common zoonoses worldwide. It is an important public health problem in many developing countries. The aim of this study was to conduct an objective evaluation of whether ginseng might be helpful for the improvement of the symptoms of brucellosis. patients/material and methods: In randomized clinical trial patients with acute brucellosis after taking informed consent, were randomly categorized into two therapeutic groups, Ginseng group, and control group. All patients were evaluated for clinical response at days 0, 3, 7, 14 and were followed for recurrence till 9 months after treatment initiation. Data collected and analyzed with spss (ver. 18). Results: Sixty-two patients completed the study. The most prevalent findings were fever (90.2%), sweating (77.2%), fatigue and malaise symptoms (73.9%), arthritis and arthralgia (70.79%). The efficacy of ginseng in improving fever, sweating, fatigue and malaise, arthritis, and arthralgia compared with the control group was better during treatment (P-Value < 0.05), and the relapse rate did not differ significantly between two groups in nine months (P-Value = 0.693). Conclusion: Ginseng may improve clinical signs and symptoms of patients and increase patients’ compliance with treatment and in addition, it has no serious side effects.