Oral microbiota in children with acute tonsillitis

Abstract

Background: More recently, the human oral microbiota has attracted attention in epidemiological research on health and disease. Against this background, changes in the oral microbiota in acute diseases of the upper respiratory tract are of interest in modern pediatrics and epidemiology. The composition of the bacterial flora is one of the main premorbid backgrounds that determine the clinical course of acute tonsillitis in children. However, the prevalence of bacterial flora and its impact on the clinical course of patients with acute diseases remains unclear. Aims: The aims are to study the state of the oral cavity microbiota in children with acute tonsillitis. Methods: The microbiota of the oral cavity was studied in 221 children aged 3–14 years with acute tonsillitis. General clinical examinations and pharyngoscopy were performed. Bacteriological examination of the oral microbiota was carried out according to the standard method. Results: Colonization by the following was most frequently observed in patients: Staphylococcus aureus (42.2%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (32.0%), Haemophilus influenzae (24.2%), Haemophilus parainfluenzae (18.8%), Streptococcus anginosus (10.9%), Moraxella catarrhalis (9.4%), Streptococcus dysgalactiae ssp. equisimilis (8.6%), and Streptococcus agalactiae (3.1%), which most often occurred as symbionts. Conclusions: In children with acute tonsillitis, colonization of the tonsils by pathogenic bacterial flora increases, changing the composition of the oral microbiota. The most common causes of oral microbiota imbalance in children with acute tonsillitis were S. aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, and H. influenzae, with varying relative proportions.