Prepubertal infections with Neisseria gonorrhoeae: clinical and epidemiologic significance

The family constellations and epidemiologic circumstances of three prepubertal girls with vulvovaginitis due to Neisseria gonorrhoeae are reported. In each instance, an infected asymptomatic man, himself a contact to a woman with pelvic inflammatory disease, could be implicated as the potential source of infection. In one instance, asymptomatic infection in a child was uncovered through epidemiologic investigation. Prepubertal gonococcal vaginitis is important not only as a potential indicator of child abuse, but also as a possible link to important transmitters of gonococcal infection. The need for meticulous epidemiologic investigation of these cases is stressed.