Comparative bacteriology of the surface of normal and pathological palatine tonsils in children

There are only few studies on the normal bacteriology of tonsils. The purpose of this study was to acquire knowledge about the normal microflora: patients without recurrent tonsillitis (RT) and without tonsil hypertrophy (TH) and to compare these results with the pathological microflora: patients who have recurrent tonsillitis and/or tonsillar hypertrophy. We did 132 cultures of tonsil surface obtained from normal children and 96 cultures from pathological surfaces during the summer and in the winter. Comparing normal and pathological groups, we found Neisseria spp and Enterobacteria spp more frequently in the normal group. There are differences in the surface microflora of tonsils from normal persons and from individuals with tonsillitis.