THE AETIOLOGY OF ACUTE CERVICAL ADENITIS IN CHILDREN: SEROLOGICAL AND BACTERIOLOGICAL STUDIES

ACUTE cervical adenitis in children continues to be a common problem in paediatric medicine. The bacteria most commonly implicated have been group-A streptococci and Staphylococcus aureus. There is, however, some uncertainty in deciding which of these organisms is the primary pathogen causing cervical adenitis (Dajani, Garcia and Wolinsky, 1963; Scobie, 1969; Brook and Winter, 1971; Barton and Feigin, 1974; Wald and Sivasubra-manian, 1976). Previous studies have demonstrated that the majority of staphylococci isolated in this illness are resistant to penicillin, although penicillin continues to be the drug of choice for group-A streptococcal infections (Breese, 1953; Goodman and Gilman, 1958; Stillerman et al., 1960; Breese, Disney and Talpey, 1965). This study was undertaken to determine the aetiology of acute cervical adenitis in children because successful antibiotic therapy depends on knowledge of the specific susceptibility of the organisms involved.