The prevalence of potential pathogenic bacteria in nasopharyngeal samples from individuals with a respiratory tract infection and a sore throat--implications for the diagnosis of pharyngotonsillitis.
BACKGROUND: Treatment failure in patients with pharyngotonsillitis after a traditional course of penicillin V is a common finding. Several factors have been proposed to explain the failure rate, but the presence of aetiological agents other than group A beta-haemolytic streptococci has attracted little attention. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to investigate if a nasopharyngeal sample could suggest the aetiology of a sore throat in patients with a respiratory tract infection. METHODS: The prevalence of potentially pathogenic bacteria (Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis) in nasopharyngeal samples from 618 healthy individuals was compared with that from 108 patients with a respiratory tract infection and a sore throat. RESULTS: The prevalence of H.influenzae was higher in patients with a sore throat than in healthy individuals of the same age. For the adult patients with a sore throat, the prevalence was 27.5% compared with 2.7% for the healthy carriers (P