Demographics of pediatric head and neck infections in a tertiary care hospital.
OBJECTIVE
Discuss potential patterns in the epidemiology of infectious disease of the head and neck.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate patterns in the epidemiology of severe head and neck infections that may reflect the impact of host factors.


METHODS
Population-based, historic cohort study.


METHODS
Information on 1,010, incident head and neck infections occurring over a 5-year period was reviewed for demographics, location, and time of year. A nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test was used to identify significant differences in the age distributions among the diagnosis groups. A Bonferroni, pair-wise comparison procedure was used for comparison of the average age of first onset of severe head and neck infections. Chi-square test was used to identify any significant association between season of the year and disease.


RESULTS
Significant differences were identified in the age distributions among the diagnosis groups (P < .001). The average age of first onset of cellulitis of the neck and retropharyngeal abscess is earlier than peritonsillar abscess, at 2 to 3 years and 13 years, respectively. Parapharyngeal and periapical abscesses and cellulitis of the face occur at approximately age 6. The incidence of parapharyngeal abscess and diseases of the pharynx is decreased during Spring, whereas peritonsillar abscesses and acute periodontitis occurs more often in Spring and Summer. Age does not appear to be related to season of first occurrence.


CONCLUSIONS
Head and neck infections are not random occurrences based on exposure alone; host factors are clearly important. Given the lack of correlation with school age, the results cannot be explained on the basis of exposure alone. Developmental patterns of the host immune response may be related to the age differential identified in the current study and are cause for further investigation.
Schweinfurth
John M
JM
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Laryngology and Voice Disorders, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi 29216, USA. JSchweinfurth@ent.umsmed.edu
D000038:Abscess / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002481:Cellulitis / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009333:Neck; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000453:epidemiology; D000039:Peritonsillar Abscess / Q000453:epidemiology; D010608:Pharyngeal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D017703:Retropharyngeal Abscess / Q000453:epidemiology; D012621:Seasons; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology