- Rare; only 0.5-3% of patients with gonorrhea develop disseminated disease
- More often in asymptomatic cases of mucosal gonorrhea
- 3 times as many women as men, usually under 40 years of age
- Causes the most common form of infectious arthritis
- Usually involves the knees
- Asymmetric
- Fever, chills, rash present
- People with complement deficiencies are more likely to develop it
- Lack of some outer membrane proteins or presences of pili on the gonococcus
PHIL/CDC: Enlarged knee and lesions typical of systemic gonorrhea