Ribosomal therapy in the prophylaxis of recurrent pharyngotonsillitis

Pharyngotonsillitis is a common illness in adults and children, often encountered by family and emergency medicine physicians. An infection in the pharynx, which is served by the lymphoid tissues of Waldeyer's ring, can spread to other parts of the ring, such as the tonsils, nasopharynx, uvula, soft palate, adenoids, and cervical lymph glands, causing pharyngitis, tonsillitis, pharyngotonsillitis, and/or rhinosinusitis. These illnesses can be acute, subacute, chronic, or recurrent. The reasons for recurrent pharyngotonsillitis are not deeply understood yet. In the last decades several authors have tried to explain how modifications affecting the balance of a host's immunological functions on the one hand and infection agents on the other can lead to recurrent inflammatory events: although much has been written on how to manage recurrent pharyngotonsillitis, it remains a controversial topic. The etiologic agents may be of viral or bacterial origin. Although viruses are the most common agents that cause throat infections in children, about 30% of infections are of bacterial origin. A proper treatment should provide patients with adequate coverage of aerobic as well as anaerobic pathogens so as to minimize recurrences, enhance eradication, maximize compliance and avoid resistance. Because of antibiotic resistance increase, attention has been focused on alternative treatment. The aim of this chapter is to evaluate the efficiency of an oral ribosomal immunotherapy in the management of patients with recurrent pharyngotonsillitis.