Prevalence and Bacteriology of Tonsillitis among Patients Attending Otorhinolaryngology Services at Muhimbili National Hospital Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

Introduction: Tonsillitis is a common infectious disease contributing to significant social-economic impact worldwide. Like other infectious diseases, the determination of the pathogenic agent is important in antibiotic selection for the medical treatment of tonsillitis. Objective To determine the prevalence and bacteriology of tonsillitis among patient attending Otorhinolaryngology services at Muhimbili National Hospital. Method: This was descriptive cross-sectional study. That was carried out at Muhimbili National hospital, ORL department, both inpatients and outpatients from June to December 2016. Interview was conducted through special questionnaire and clinical examination forms, thorough ENT examination, throat swab for culture and sensitivity was done. Culturing for colony characteristics followed by gram stain was used for provisional identity of bacteria. Further identification was done by a set of biochemical test. Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of pathogenic bacteria was determined by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. A total of 485 patients were involved in this study and the data was analyzed using the SPSS program. Frequency distribution and two way tables were used to summarize the data and Chi-square test was used to determine the association between independent and dependent variables and p-value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: Out of 485 patients attending ORL services at MNH 100(20.6%) had tonsillitis. Prevalence was higher in males 23.7% as compared to females 18.3%.The most affected age group was 1-10years 42.6%. Nearly quarter of patient had family history of tonsillitis 21% siblings being commonly affected. The most common isolated bacteria were Coagulase negative staphylococcus, Streptococcus pyogenes and Bacillus species. Streptococcus pyogenes was susceptible to most of the drugs available at our setting and resistant to penicillin G.