ACUTE TONSILLITIS IN CHILDREN: THE PRINCIPLE “ZAP AND IT’S DONE!”?

Abstract

Acute tonsillitis, as one of the most frequent reasons for seeking medical care, especially in paediatrics, is almost the leading nosology that is misinterpreted and improperly treated. It is a fact of life that only pharyngoscopic data are the course for the prescription of a system antibiotic drug, sometimes more than one, for an average of 5 to 7 days, whereas most tonsillitis cases require only symptomatic therapy. But even in case of the right choice and streptococcal aetiology of the disease, this treatment regimen is not sufficient to eradicate the infection and prevent possible serious complications. Therefore, this approach to managing patients with acute tonsillitis does not fit the category “if an antibiotic drug is prescribed, the patient either will recover himself or the antibiotic drug will help.” Acute tonsillitis requires mandatory aetiological diagnosis and the right choice of therapy treatment of clearly defined duration. The article presents the main principles of diagnostics and treatment of acute tonsillitis, and the difficulties that paediatricians have to encounter in everyday practice.