Antibiotic treatment of venereal disease and Reiter's syndrome in a Greenland population

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effects of antibiotic treatment of urethritis or cervicitis on the incidence of recurrences of articular symptoms in Reiter's syndrome patients.

Methods: Retrospective evaluation of the medical charts of 109 patients living in Greenland.

Results: Thirty-seven percent of the episodes of genitourinary tract inflammation that were not treated or were treated with penicillin were followed by arthritis, compared with 10% of those treated with tetracycline or erythromycin.

Conclusion: Antibiotics active against Chlamydia trachomatis reduced the risk of postvenereal arthritis in the population studied.