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Etiology and management of acute and recurrent group a Streptococcal tonsillitis

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Abstract

Tonsillitis is one of the most prevalent infections in children and adolescents. The etiologic agents might be viral or bacterial. About 30% of cases are reported to be of bacterial origin, mainly due to group A Streptococcus (GAS). Although in most instances GAS tonsillitis is a self-limited disease, antibiotic treatment is recommended, mainly to prevent the suppurative and nonsuppurative poststreptococcal sequelae of acute rheumatic fever and to prevent glomerulonephritis. In this paper we review the current knowledge of the etiology of acute and recurrent GAS tonsillitis, with special emphasis on a recent hypothesis regarding the etiology of bacterial eradication failure. While penicillin V remains the drug of choice for acute tonsillitis, other antibiotics are being approved and recommended for particular indications in both Europe and the United States.

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  1. Pediatric Infectious Disease Unit, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel

    Asher Barzilai MD

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  1. Asher Barzilai MD
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  2. Dan Miron MD
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  3. Shlomo Sela PhD
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Barzilai, A., Miron, D. & Sela, S. Etiology and management of acute and recurrent group a Streptococcal tonsillitis. Curr Infect Dis Rep 3, 217–223 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11908-001-0023-6

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