2150. Detection and Characterization of Viral and Bacterial Pathogens in Tonsillar Tissues of Children Undergoing Tonsillectomy

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of upper respiratory infections is commonly made using nucleic acid amplification technologies for viruses and bacteria. The impact of latency and colonization are not often appreciated. We aimed to detect viruses and bacteria present in tonsil and adenoid tissues from children during the absence of acute infection symptoms. METHODS: Remnant tonsil and adenoid tissues were obtained from children undergoing tonsillectomy procedures. Nucleic acids of viruses and bacteria were detected using laboratory developed PCRs targeting Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), Adenoviruses (AdV), human herpes virus 6 (HHV6), human enteroviruses (HEV), Group A streptococcus (GAS), Kingella kingae (KKN), Staphylococcus aureus (SA), Streptococcus pneumoniae (SPN), Arcanobacterium haemolyticus (AHE), Fusobacterium necrophorum (FNE), Mycobacterium pneumoniae (MPN) and Neisseria meningitidis (NM). The genogroup of AdV and the type of HHV6 were determined as well. Demographics, clinical presentation and detection rates of these viruses and bacteria were analyzed. RESULTS: During the study period (April 2018 and March 2019), 239 samples were collected from patients <18 years with an average age of 5.1 years. More male subjects than female subjects were included (57.7% vs. 42.3%). Most of the patients underwent tonsillectomy due to adenotonsillar hypertrophy (93.3%). Thirty (12.5%) also had a history of tonsillitis, 224 (93.7%) sleep apnea, 36 (15.1%) otitis media, 35 (14.6%) Eustachian tube dysfunction and 46 (19.2%) had other conditions. The detection of the pathogens among each age group is presented in Table 1. The seasonal distributions of virus positivity are shown in Figure 1. CONCLUSION: The detection rates of each virus and bacterium in the tonsillar tissues from children absent of acute infection symptoms vary in each age group and fluctuate among seasons. In the molecular era when syndromic real-time multiplex PCR kits can provide sensitive and rapid results for a wide range of pathogens, it is important to understand the meaning of detection and differentiate between an infection and colonization or latency. [Image: see text] [Image: see text] DISCLOSURES: All authors: No reported disclosures.