Borrelia arthritis in Swedish children: clinical manifestations in 10 children

Since 1986, serology against Borrelia burgdorferi has been performed on patients with arthritis admitted to the Division of Pediatric Rheumatology, S:t Göran's Hospital, Stockholm. We studied, retrospectively, the period 1986-88. Among 300 children with arthritis, 10 had positive titers against B. B. burgdorferi. Other causes of arthritis were excluded. The onset of Borrelia arthritis was throughout the year. Only 3 of the 10 children remembered an actual tick bite. No other manifestations of Lyme borreliosis were present simultaneously. The typical clinical picture was a relapsing unilateral arthritis of the knee.