Table 5.
Outline of previous studies assessing musculoskeletal symptoms following Escherichia coli infection
| Study (ref) | Number of patients | Type of DEC | MSK symptoms/ReA n (%) |
Clinical picture/duration of symptoms (months) | HLA-B27 status of those with MSK symptoms/ReA |
| Locht and Krogfelt4 | 177 | ETEC | ReA: 10 (5.6) | Not described / 5.5 | Not examined |
| Rees et al 29 | 22 | E. coli O157:H7 | ReA: 1 (4.5)* | Pain in hands and feet | Not examined |
| Schiellerup et al 5 | 290 | All E. coli | 28 (9.7)/ 3 (1.0) | Median VAS joint pain 35.5 mm | 10% HLA-B27 positive |
| EPEC (n=17; 5.8%) | 1 (5.9) | ||||
| ETEC (n=112; 38.6%) | 8 (7.1) | ||||
| A/EEC (n=138; 47.6%) | 16 (11.6) | ||||
| VTEC (n=23; 7.9%) | 3 (13.0) | ||||
| Townes et al 6 | 395 | E. coli O157 | 35 (8.9)/1 (0.25) | Described among other pathogens together | 12% HLA-B27 positive† |
*Infection with Campylobacter and concomitant diagnosis of ulcerative colitis.
†among all participants with ReA tested, comprising findings of Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli O157 and Yersinia.
A/EEC, attaching and effacing E. coli (considered EPEC), E. coli O157; DEC, diarrhoeagenic E. coli; EPEC, enteropathogenic E. coli; ETEC, enterotoxigenic E. coli; HLA-B27, human leucocyte antigen B27; MSK, musculoskeletal; ReA, reactive arthritis; VAS, visual analogue scale 0-100mm; VTEC, verocytotoxin (shigatoxin) producing E. coli.