Meningococcal arthritis.

Abstract

Meningococcal infection (MI) remains endemic in the Western Cape. A review of 2216 cases in which the condition was diagnosed and notified to the relevant authorities between January 1977 and March 1982 is presented. In 121 patients the disease was complicated by meningococcal arthritis (MA). MI and MA occurred most commonly in the Coloured population; over 50% of patients with MI were less than 2 years of age; and patients with MA were slightly older than the sample mean. The onset of arthritis showed a biphasic pattern with an early peak at 1-2 days and a later peak, heralded by typical recrudescence of fever, at 5-10 days which usually lasted 5-7 days. It was most often monarticular, the knee being the joint most frequently affected. Four cases of isolated MA were also encountered.