Herpetic tonsillitis

Herpetic angina is an acute infectious disease that manifests itself as general (fever, general malaise, sometimes nausea and vomiting), as well as local symptoms (sharp pain in the throat when swallowing, swelling of the pharyngeal tonsils). Pathognomonic sign of this type of sore throat is the appearance on the posterior wall of the pharynx of the vesicular formations, which are later subjected to ulceration.

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Causes of the herpetic sore throat

Herpetic angina (herpes buccopharyngalis) is caused by a filtering virus (herpetic fever virus) of one class with Herpes simplex and manifests by bubble rashes on the mucous membrane of the oral cavity and pharynx. However, the toxin of this virus is many times greater than the toxicity of the herpes simplex virus. For example, in special experiments it was found that if the contents of the vial in herpetic sore throat are inserted into the conjunctival bag of a rabbit, then ulcerative keratitis develops and many animals die from of viral encephalitis. Many researchers believe that the virus of herpetic fever is identical to the virus of lethargic encephalitis Ekonomo, the difference between which concerns only virulence and tropism to various substrates.

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Symptoms of the herpetic sore throat

The clinical picture of herpetic angina begins violently, especially in adults, with chills, a rise in body temperature to 40-41 ° C, as in croupous pneumonia, and sharp pains in the throat and dysphagia, which decrease only on the third day of the disease. At the beginning of the disease, the mucous membrane of the pharynx is diffusely hyperemic, and on the arches and palatine tonsils there are accumulations of small round white bubbles surrounded by a red halo. These vesicles merge, forming white spots that later ulcerate and become covered with a pseudoembranous film surrounded by an uneven red rim. Vesicles are consistently suppressed and ulcerated within 3 weeks. The appearance of herpetic rashes on the mucous membranes of the cheeks, lips and even on the skin of the face facilitates the diagnosis of herpetic sore throat.

Sometimes herpetic vesicles are found on the soft and hard sky, tongue and epiglottis. Often, the common severe symptoms of intoxication disappear before the herpetic rash appears, while the body temperature gradually decreases by the 6th day of the disease, and the patient recovers without complications.

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Diagnostics of the herpetic sore throat

The diagnosis of herpetic sore throat can not always be established immediately, since many of its symptoms at the initial stage of the disease coincide with other forms of angina both common and in a number of infectious diseases. Only the appearance on the tonsils and mucous membrane of the oral cavity of characteristic herpetic vesicles allows you to bend towards the diagnosis of herpetic sore throat.

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Differential diagnosis

The initial appearance of herpes on the lips with the rapid development of the general severe condition is often mistaken for the pneumonia of the viral etiology, epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis, scarlet fever in the initial stage of the pronounced enanthema; in the phase of polycyclic formation of pseudo films, herpetic sore throat can simulate diphtheria. In the phase of eruption of herpetic vesicles, herpetic angina must be differentiated from the herpes zoster of the second branch of the trigeminal nerve, the nerve endings of which innervate the palatal arms and the sky.

Differential diagnosis should also take into account the so-called recurrent herpes, which occurs in women during menstruation, as well as in smokers and people with arthritis.

Treatment of the herpetic sore throat

Herpetic angina is treated symptomatically and specifically. The first include rinses of the pharynx, copious drink, rational nutrition, multivitamins, painkillers. Specific treatment consists in the appointment of modern antiviral drugs such as acyclovir. When there are bacterial complications, antibiotics of a wide spectrum of action are prescribed.