COMPARATIVE BACTERIOLOGY OF THE SURFACE OF NORMAL AND PATHOLOGICAL PALATINE TONSILS IN CHILDREN

There are only few studies on the normal bacteriology of tonsils. The purpose of this study was to acquire knowledge about the normal microf lora: patients without recurrent tonsillitis (RT) and without tonsil h ypertrophy (TH) and to compare these results with the pathological mic roflora: patients who have recurrent tonsillitis and/or tonsillar hype rtrophy. We did 132 cultures of tonsil surface obtained from normal ch ildren and 96 cultures from pathological surfaces during the summer an d in the winter. Comparing normal and pathological groups, we found Ne isseria spp and Enterobacteria spp more frequently in the normal group . There are differences in the surface microflora of tonsils from norm al persons and from individuals with tonsillitis.