[Current status on the epidemiology of acute pharyngitis and post-streptococcal syndromes]

So far, no ideal study providing an exhaustive knowledge of acute pharyngitis epidemiology has been carried out. What is available now is a number of investigations, all with deficiencies, which concern the duration of the disease (there may be seasonal variations), its limits in space and, above all, the number of pathogens sought for. A well-organized investigation span over at least one year, involve a fairly wide range of age-groups and be repeated in several countries. Bacterial epidemiology is dominated by beta-haemolytic streptococci group A, but other streptococcal groups, notably group C, have been incriminated. Other responsible bacteria, such as Haemophilus spp., Staphylococcus spp. and Corynebacterium spp., are extremely rare but most probable. Mycoplasma pneumoniae and perhaps Chlamydia pneumoniae are probably found more frequently. Rheumatic fever--which had virtually disappeared in medically advanced countries due to a higher level of life and to the general use of penicillin therapy--has reappeared in recent years, as shown by a few North-American epidemics. Such epidemics have come on time to remind us that we should be vigilant and continue, as in the past, to treat all streptococcal foci systematically, in order to prevent the occurrence of rheumatic fever.