title: Evaluation of clinical and laboratory findings of pediatric and adult patients with oropharyngeal tularemia in Turkey: a combination of surgical drainage and antibiotic therapy increases treatment success.
abstract: We analyzed the clinical and laboratory findings of both pediatric and adult patients with oropharyngeal tularemia. We also compared the therapeutic outcomes of patients who underwent surgical drainage of lymph nodes early or late during antibiotic therapy. A total of 68 patients with oropharyngeal tularemia, including 26 children and 42 adults, were enrolled in this study. The average duration between symptom onset and hospital admission was 20.8 days (4-60 days) in the pediatric group and 32.6 days (4-90 days) in the adult group (P = 0.009). The most frequently observed clinical symptoms were sore throat (100% and 100%), fever (96.2% and 90.5%), tonsillitis (69.2% and 78.6%), and rash (15.4% and 11.9%) in the pediatric and adult groups, respectively. However, the frequencies of erythema, tenderness, and fluctuant of enlarged lymph nodes were significantly higher in the adult group than in the pediatric group (P = 0.005, P = 0.029, and P = 0.041, respectively). Treatment failure was observed in 2 (7.7%) pediatric patients and 4 (9.5%) adult patients, for a total of 6 (8.8%) treatment failures in the study group. Similar clinical findings and treatment outcomes were observed in both groups. We concluded that a combination of surgical drainage and antibiotic therapy increases treatment success for patients diagnosed with oropharyngeal tularemia.
authors: Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Medicine.
authors: Mustafa Gokhan
authors: MG
authors: Gozel
authors: Aynur
authors: A
authors: Engin
authors: Emine Elif
authors: EE
authors: Altuntas
authors: İsmail
authors: İ
authors: Salk
authors: Ali
authors: A
authors: Kaya
authors: Cem
authors: C
authors: Celik
authors: Ilyas
authors: I
authors: Dokmetas
authors: Mehmet
authors: M
authors: Bakir
authors: Nazif
authors: N
authors: Elaldi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004322:Drainage / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010612:Pharyngitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery; D014406:Tularemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents