Reiter's syndrome following epidemic shigellosis

To define the epidemiology of post-dysenteric Reiter's syndrome (RS), 1,162 persons were questioned about compatible symptoms soon after 3 separate outbreaks of shigellosis. We diagnosed RS for 3 women of 204 persons ill during an outbreak of Shigella flexneri 1b, for 3 women of 206 ill during an outbreak of S. flexneri 2a, and for none of 85 ill during an outbreak of S. sonnei. We found no RS among 667 persons without diarrhea. Prospective controlled investigations in defined populations documented that RS followed S. flexneri 1b as well as 2a infections in about 1.5% of white adults with dysentery and indicated that women develop post-dysenteric RS as often as men.