comparing the efficacy of gentamicin and streptomycin on brucellosis: a systematic review

Background: brucellosis is the most common zoonotic infection, which is transmitted to humans through direct contact with infected animals or their products (e.g. milk). choosing an appropriate antibiotic regimen that minimizes recurrence and treatment failure has always been a challenging aspect of treating brucellosis. in recent years, several studies have compared the efficacy of streptomycin and gentamicin in treating brucellosis, but it is still not completely clear which antibiotic is superior. methods: medline and scopus databases were searched. all english articles published from january 2006 until january 2020 that assessed the efficacy of streptomycin and gentamicin in treating human brucellosis were carefully evaluated. results: in total, 11 studies met the inclusion criteria. of these, 2 were reviews, 2 were clinical trials, and the other 7 studies were lab experiments. four studies had been performed in iran. the number of subjects in the evaluated articles ranged from 50 to 323. most studies focused on the adult population, with only one specifically focusing on children above 8 years old. human brucellosis agents were almost equally sensitive to streptomycin and gentamicin in lab experiments. in clinical trials, both antibiotics were effective in treating brucellosis. conclusion: streptomycin and gentamicin could safely be used with doxycycline to treat brucellosis successfully.