Acute Pharyngitis and Tonsillitis in University of Wisconsin Students

Abstract

An etiologic study of acute pharyngitistonsillitis in over 300 Universty of Wisconsin students hospitalized with the illness revealed that 26.3% of the cases were associated with hemolytic streptococci, 37.8% were associated with viruses, and 35.9% were of unknown cause. Herpes simplex was the viral agent most frequently implicated, accounting for 12.9% of the total. Other viruses involved were: adenovirus, 2.7%; Coxsackie, 3.9%; influenza, 5.2%; parainfluenza, 3.7%; combination of two viruses, 2.3%; and unidentified picornaviruses, 7.1%. Clinical analysis of illness associated with different etiologic entities, including the hemolytic streptococcus, did not reveal differences that could serve as reliable bases for differential diagnosis in individual patents.