The occurrence of acute purulent conjunctivitis due to the meningococcus in an otherwise healthy person is exceedingly rare. Its occasional occurrence, however, and that of conjunctivitis due to Micrococcus catarrhalis illustrate the value of culture in certain cases in which differentiation from gonorrheal ophthalmia is important and would be otherwise impossible.
REPORT OF CASE
George G., aged 7 years, the son of a physician, was seen in April 1933 with chronic bilateral conjunctivitis. A few gram-negative diplococci were found in conjunctival scrapings, but on account of the mildness of the subjective and objective symptoms no complete bacteriologic study was made, and the organism was considered as probably M. catarrhalis. The symptoms subsided within a few weeks with the use of a mild antiseptic, though some enlarged follicles remained.
On Dec. 11, 1934, during a moderately severe cold, the boy complained of a sudden pain in the left