Abstract
Respiratory viruses are frequently detected in association with chronic tonsillar hypertrophy in the absence of symptoms of acute respiratory infection (ARI). The present analysis was done in follow-up to a previous clinical study done by this same group. Nasopharyngeal washes (NPWs) were obtained from 83 of 120 individuals at variable times post adenotonsillectomy, in the absence of ARI symptoms. A look back at virus detection results in NPWs from the same 83 individuals at the time of tonsillectomy revealed that 73.5% (61/83) were positive for one or more viruses. The overall frequency of respiratory virus detection in post-tonsillectomy NPWs was 58.8%. Rhinovirus (RV) was the agent most frequently detected, in 38 of 83 subjects (45.8%), followed by enterovirus in 7 (8.4%), human metapneumovirus in 6 (7.2%), human respiratory syncytial virus in 3 (3.6%) and human coronavirus in 1 (1.2%). Remarkably, there was no detection of adenovirus (HAdV) or human bocavirus (HBoV) in asymptomatic individuals in follow-up of adenotonsillectomy. In keeping with persistence of respiratory DNA viruses in human tonsils, tonsillectomy significantly reduces asymptomatic shedding of HAdV and HBoV in NPWs.
Highlights
A wide range of respiratory viruses can be detected in human adenoids and palatine tonsils [1, 2, 3, 4]
A look back to the previous results of virus detection obtained for the same 83 patients [1] revealed that at least one virus had been detected in 73.5% of the nasopharyngeal washes (NPWs) collected immediately prior to tonsillectomy
The overall frequency of virus detection in the NPWs from the same individuals a few years after adenotonsillectomy was 58.8%, and all patients were free of symptoms of acute respiratory infections for at least one month
Summary
A wide range of respiratory viruses can be detected in human adenoids and palatine tonsils [1, 2, 3, 4]. A previous cross-sectional study of hypertrophic tonsils and nasopharyngeal secretions from patients undergoing adenotonsillectomy revealed very high frequencies of detection of respiratory viruses by PCR [1]. 97% of 120 individuals without symptoms of acute respiratory infection (ARI) had at least one respiratory virus detected by RT-PCR in either adenoid, palatine tonsil, or nasopharyngeal washes (NPWs). Considering only NPWs, 78.5% were positive for one or more viruses [1]. Those results prompted us to assess whether.
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