On the treatment of recurrent tonsillitis by vaccination

This paper reports on the experience of using vaccination in the treatment of recurrent tonsillitis. All of the 82 patients, who were aged between 5 and 67 years and who suffered from recurrent tonsillitis, were given an injection of a bacterial vaccine (Broncasma Berna, Swiss Serum Institute, Berne) that has been used in many countries for three decades. A dose of 0.05 ml was given once every 4 to 14 days (average once a week) on 3 to 20 occasions (average 8). The treatment prevented 75 of the 82 patients (91%) from having attacks of recurrent tonsillitis for extended periods. These 75 patients included three who relapsed into recurrent tonsillitis in spite of having tonsillectomies. As the dose used was relatively small, none of the patients complained of spontaneous pain or fever although three complained of slight tenderness at the injection point on the following day. The effect on recurrent tonsillitis of the Paspat intracutaneous injection (Luitpold Werk, Munich) has also been investigated recently. It was effective in two patients who did not respond to Broncasma Berna. In this retrospective study, low doses of bacterial vaccine reduced the incidence of recurrent tonsillitis and were well tolerated.