A changing pattern of epiglottitis

A case review of epiglottitis at Geisinger Medical Center over the past 12 years demonstrates a decrease in the number of pediatric patients with epiglottitis and an increase in the number of adults with epiglottitis. In the last five years, the number of epiglottitis patients younger than 10 years has fallen (0 cases), while the number of patients over 10 years of age has increased (6 cases). The cause of epiglottitis, Hemophilus influenzae type b, remains constant in the pediatric as well as in the adult population. There appears to be an increasing frequency of epiglottitis in adults and a decreasing frequency of epiglottitis in children.