Food-borne and air-borne streptococcal pharyngitis--a clinical comparison.
Different vehicles of transmission of the same pathogen may induce different clinical manifestations of the disease. The hypothesis was tested that the clinical manifestation of food-borne streptococcal pharyngitis is different from air-borne streptococcal pharyngitis. The symptoms and signs of 77 patients with endemic air-borne streptococcal pharyngitis compared to 103 patients with epidemic food-borne streptococcal pharyngitis (T type 8/25/imp19, M protein negative) and 11 patients with secondary air-borne epidemic streptococcal pharyngitis (T type 8/25/imp19, M protein negative) were prospectively evaluated. The patients with food-borne streptococcal pharyngitis had a significantly higher frequency of sore throat, fever, pharyngeal erythema, tonsillar enlargement and submandibular lymphadenopathy and a lower frequency of coryza and cough compared to the patients with endemic air-borne streptococcal pharyngitis. Although both food-borne and air-borne streptococcal infection caused upper respiratory tract infection, the clinical manifestation of food-borne streptococcal pharyngitis was more severe and more confined to the pharynx compared to the endemic air-borne disease. Involvement of the nasal mucosa and bronchial tree was more common in air-borne streptococcal pharyngitis than in the food-borne disease.
Bar-Dayan
Y
Y
IDF-Medical Corps, Shelba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.
Bar-Dayan
Y
Y
Shemer
J
J
D000391:Air Microbiology; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000382:microbiology; D010612:Pharyngitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D010614:Pharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission*; D013292:Streptococcus agalactiae / Q000302:isolation & purification*