REACTIVE ARTHRITIS AFTER SALMONELLA AMONG MEDICAL DOCTORS - STUDY OF AN OUTBREAK

Objective. To investigate an outbreak of S. enteritidis enterocolitis which occurred at a radiology symposium in Malmo, Sweden in March, 199 0. Methods. Questionnaires were mailed to the 126 participants after 1 and 6 months inquiring about enterocolitis, joint and eye symptoms an d antibiotic treatment. Fifty-one delivered blood samples for serologi cal studies. Results. One hundred thirteen responded to the questionna ire. Enterocolitis was reported by 108 individuals (96%) and 17 (15%) developed reactive arthritis (ReA). Only 3 persons reported conjunctiv itis. Antibody response did not differ between patients with uncomplic ated enterocolitis or ReA. IgA antibodies had the highest sensitivity to detect infected individuals. Ten out of 65 patients treated with an tibiotics (mean 9.1 days) for enterocolitis and 7 out of 48 nontreated reported joint symptoms. At 6 month followup 8 patients had persisten t joint complaints. Conclusion. Following an outbreak of S. enteritidi s dysentery, joint symptoms may be more frequent than previously thoug ht and could not be prevented by early antibiotic treatment. Nor did a ntibiotics affect the duration of ReA over a 6 month followup period.