Antibody response to pneumococcal vaccination as related to tonsillectomy

In each of twelve matched pairs of patients undergoing tonsillectomy one patient was vaccinated with Pneumovax, a pneumococcal polysaccharide antigen, prior to tonsillectomy, the other patient being vaccinated after tonsillectomy. Sera were tested for antibody response to three different pneumococcal types of IgG, IgA and IgM classes. The patients with intact tonsils at vaccination did not develop higher antibody response than did those tonsillectomised prior to vaccination. On the contrary, in the case of pneumococcus type 6A, the IgM antibody response in tonsillectomised patients was significantly higher than that in patients with intact tonsils at vaccination (p = 0.021). Thus, the present study did not support the notion that tonsillectomy affects antibody response against pneumococcal vaccination. The palatine tonsils' role as an immunologically reactive organ is also discussed.