TONSILLITIS AND CHRONIC PSORIASIS

Although the relationship between streptococcal tonsillitis and acute guttate psoriasis is well recognized, its relationship to chronic form s of psoriasis is less established. In order to explore this further, the authors questioned 35 patients with severe psoriasis and 35 age-ma tched eczema controls about their history of significant sore throats (i.e, requiring a GP visit) and any resultant worsening of the skin co ndition. A third of the psoriasis patients reported recurrent sore thr oats which worsened their skin condition. This was true of only one (3 %) of the 35 eczema controls. The authors discuss these findings in th e context of recent laboratory work on the association between strepto coccal infection and psoriasis.