Paediatric: Tonsil Infections

What is Frequent tonsil Infections (Recurrent tonsillitis)?

Tonsils are two oval-shaped cluster of tissues located at the back of your throat (left tonsil and right tonsil)(Figure 1).They are part of your immune system that protects you against infection and illness. Although the tonsils are part of your immune system, they play a very small part. Other parts of the immune system such as the lymphatic system, bone marrow, spleen and thymus are the main parts of the immune system.

Tonsillitis is an infection of the tonsils (Figure 2). Children with tonsillitis will experience severe sorethroat, painful swallowing and fever. During an active infection, the tonsils are swollen, inflamed and may have patches of white pus. The treatment of tonsillitis involves adequate rest, hydration, antibiotics (in cases of bacterial tonsillitis), pain relievers and mouth gargle and lozenges.

Some children are prone to getting frequent tonsil infections. The reason for this is unknown. If your child experiences frequent severe tonsil infections requiring significant amount of time from school or requiring frequent hospitalization, you should consider having your child’s tonsils removed (procedure is known as Tonsillectomy). Removal of the tonsils does not weaken your child’s immune system nor does it make your child more susceptible to infections. There are many studies that have shown that tonsillectomy has no clinically significant negative effect on the immune system