Bacterial Arthritis

To the Editor: Drs. Goldenberg and Reed, in their timely review of bacterial arthritis (March 21 issue),¹ have made two statements that require specific comment. To describe Hemophilus influenzae as a common cause of neonatal septic arthritis is somewhat misleading. Although H. influenzae is a frequent pathogen in infant and childhood septic arthritis,^2,3 its isolation in neonates with septic arthritis is relatively uncommon. Staphylococcus aureus, Group B streptococcus, and gram-negative enteric bacteria are most commonly isolated from the infected joints of children less than one month old.^4,5 The relative rarity of H. influenzae isolation may be due to passive.