MICROBIOLOGY OF RECURRENT PAROTITIS

Background, Infantile chronic recurrent parotitis (ICRP) is characteri zed by episodes of recurrent swelling of the parotid gland with decrea sed salivary flow and purulent secretion, The etiology of this little unknown clinical condition has been attributed to multiple causes such as canalicular system malformations, ascending bacterial infection, h yposialia, parotitis sequelae, viral infections and immunologic disord ers, among others, Methods, We studied the types (with counts) of micr oorganisms involved in ICRP. Saliva samples were obtained from 56 pati ents and 20 controls, inoculated onto enriched media and incubated und er aerobic and anaerobic conditions, Antimicrobial susceptibility and serotyping of the isolated organisms isolated were performed, Results, Of 57 saliva samples from ICRP patients, 52 (91%) were culture-positi ve. The most frequently isolated microorganisms were Streptococcus pne umoniae and Haemophilus influenzae, Thirteen of twenty (65%) samples w ere also culture-positive, mostly for viridans streptococci, However, colony counts were lower than in clinical samples (P < 0.004), Approxi mately one-third of S, pneumoniae strains resistant or moderately resi stant to penicillin, and all H, influenzae strains were susceptible to all of the antimicrobials tested, Conclusions, S, pneumoniae or H, in fluenzae were isolated in high concentrations in IRCP cases but not in controls, suggesting that these microorganisms may have a role in the develop ment of this clinical entity, Quantitative cultures are very important in assessment of the pathogenic role of these microorganisms in patients but not in controls.