MENINGOCOCCEMIA

Abstract

Meningococcemia, unaccompanied by meningitis, or with meningitis occurring as a late complication, continues to be reported with great rarity in the United States. In 1924 Dock¹was able to find reports of nine cases in the American literature, and since that time only four more have been published. In contrast, the foreign literature contains reports of approximately 110 cases. Dock believed that this discrepancy was due not so much to the greater frequency of the condition abroad as to the lack of knowledge of the disease in this country. There is no way of settling this question, but it is certain that those cases which have been reported here do not exemplify the typical picture as it is known in Europe. In many instances the signs and symptoms are sufficiently characteristic to warrant a presumptive diagnosis before bacteriologic confirmation. The present case was so diagnosed by a visiting physician.