Children with tonsils, more strep throat

ROCHESTER, Minn., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. children with tonsils and recurrent strep throat are more than three times more likely to develop more strep throat than children without tonsils.

Senior study investigator Dr. Laura Orvidas, a Mayo Clinic ear, nose and throat surgeon, and colleagues conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study of children between ages 4 and 16 who received three or more diagnoses of strep-related tonsillitis or pharyngitis at least one month apart, within 12 months.

Within this group, children who subsequently underwent a tonsillectomy were compared with an age- and sex-matched sample of children who had not had a tonsillectomy.

The study population consisted of 145 children who received a tonsillectomy and 145 who did not. In the tonsillectomy group, 74 children experienced at least one strep infection after the index date and before age 16. Among those who did not receive a tonsillectomy, 122 experienced at least one strep infection during the follow-up.

By one year after the index date, the cumulative incidence of a strep infection was 23.1 percent among the children who had a tonsillectomy compared to 58.5 percent among the children who had not, according to the study published in of Laryngoscope.