ABSTRACT
There are only a few conditions in which the infection has been identified as the direct cause of the autoimmune disease. We have seen how some infections with Streptococcus pyogenes may lead to rheumatic fever (see Case 29). Some strains of S. pyogenes lead to a type III autoimmune disease (caused by immune-complex formation; see also Case 43) of the renal glomeruli called post-streptococcal acute glomerulonephritis. These streptococcal strains are said to be nephritogenic (causing nephritis). About 3-4% of children infected with a nephritogenic strain of streptococcus will develop acute glomerulonephritis within a week or two of the onset of the streptococcal infection. What predisposes this subset of children to develop the complication is unknown.
