Infection-related arthritis

Infections can cause muscle and joint diseases directly and indirectly. Among the direct causes, bacterial arthritis caused by streptococci and staphylococci and Lyme borreliosis stand out, as do various exotic diseases that, because of tourism, can also spread to Croatia. Arthritis can also be caused by viruses such as parvovirus B19 and many others (HIV, CMV, EBV, hepatitis viruses). Many sexually transmitted diseases present as arthritis, the most common being gonorrhoea and syphilis. A separate entity is rheumatic fever, which is directly linked to infection, i.e. to the body's post-streptococcal reaction. Mycobacteria can also cause arthritis. In almost all spondyloarthritides infection is a trigger for the development of the disease.