In case of contact with pathogenic bacteria and viruses that cause acute tonsillitis, a person may or may not be infected. Why it happens? Why is tonsillitis sometimes transmitted and sometimes not? Scientists asked the same questions. For acute tonsillitis (sore throat), they identified a number of critical factors that directly affect whether a person gets sick or not. The factors can be divided into two groups. The first group includes factors that emphasize the transmission of tonsillitis from patient to healthy. The second group includes factors that affect the body's own immune forces. Let's look at both categories.
Contact with a sick person
Acute tonsillitis is caused by various microorganisms. Most often, acute tonsillitis is caused by infection with bacteria and viruses, or a combination of both.
In rare cases, sore throat is caused by fungi (about one percent of infections). Main microorganisms:
- Bacteria. These include microorganisms such as streptococcus pyogenes, some types of staphylococcus, Vincent's spirochete, fusiform bacillus and others. In half of the cases, acute tonsillitis is caused by the bacterium streptococcus pyogenes.
- Viruses. These include microorganisms such as human herpesvirus, Coxsackie enterovirus, as well as part of the viruses belonging to the adenovirus family.
- Fungi. Also, a sore throat can be caused by a fungus of the genus Candida.
Angina infection always occurs through contact with a sick person. Moreover, there are two types of contact with a sick person:
- Direct type of contact - talking, kissing, touching, and so on. If a person has a sore throat, he needs to be isolated from others. Sometimes even a friendly handshake is enough to get sick. If the patient cannot be isolated, they should wear a cotton-gauze bandage to minimize the risk of transmission of the disease to a healthy person.
- An indirect type of contact is the use of common household items. These include spoons, forks, knives, common utensils, common towels, and so on. It has been proven by doctors that pathogens can sometimes be transmitted even by touching doorknobs. That is why it is very important for a sick person to select individual household appliances, and also from time to time to wipe the door handles with a clean towel, which must be thoroughly washed after cleaning.
The likelihood of infection directly depends on the type and depth of contact.
For example, a kiss with a sick person with a sore throat is very likely to infect a healthy person, but in the case of communication or contact with common household items, the probability of infection is moderately low. It is important to understand here that the likelihood of infection is influenced by the intensity of communication. So the likelihood of becoming infected with short-term communication with a sick person is very low.
For example, if a person with a sore throat on the bus asked you to transfer money for travel, then such communication will not lead to infection. But if a sick sore throat is your close friend, work friend or family member, then communication with him will be quite close, so the likelihood of getting infected from such a person is extremely high. Therefore, remember: if the doctor diagnosed you with angina, and you cannot go to the hospital, you need to be prepared for the fact that you can infect many family members with angina. Therefore, it is very important to wear a mask during illness, communicate less and not use common household appliances.
The body's own immune forces
To cause inflammation of the tonsils, pathogens need not only to get on a healthy person, but also to overcome his immune system. Whether a person gets sick or not directly depends on the quality of the human immune system. Doctors identify such critical factors that can significantly increase the likelihood of the onset of the disease:
- Hypothermia of the body. Moreover, it affects both local and general hypothermia. For example, you can step into a muddy puddle in late autumn, which will double your chances of cooling - after all, in late autumn, due to low temperatures, general hypothermia can occur on one side, and local hypothermia of the legs due to a muddy puddle, on the other hand.
- Injury to the tonsils or nasopharynx.
- Inflammation of the nose.
- Improper diet, bad habits.
- Genetic predisposition to weakened immunity.
Is chronic tonsillitis contagious?
Chronic tonsillitis is a classic focal infection. Chronic tonsillitis does not appear just like that - it can only be a consequence of a previously suffered acute tonsillitis. It is for this reason that it is impossible to become infected with chronic tonsillitis - after all, at first a person must unsuccessfully get sick with a sore throat in order to earn chronic tonsillitis.
In chronic tonsillitis, some other pathogens may appear in the tonsils, which were not there before due to the fact that the tonsils effectively fought them.
These pathogenic bacteria include Staphylococcus aureus, some pneumococci, part of the streptococcus family, mycoplasmas, some anaerobic bacteria and other microorganisms.
These microorganisms will further aggravate chronic tonsillitis. The following factors affect the possibility of the degeneration of a sore throat into acute tonsillitis:
- Absence or untimely treatment of sore throat symptoms. This is the most common cause of chronic tonsillitis. Angina, although a rather unpleasant disease, is by no means fatal. Therefore, many people do not treat it very well, thinking that this way they can save money. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The disease can go into a chronic phase, and to treat it, you will have to spend even more money on medications.
- Dental diseases. The tonsils are located near the mouth. If a person has healthy teeth, then there is no danger to tonsils. If you do not take good care of the oral cavity and do not go to the dentist, then exactly the same pathogens that attack the tonsils with angina may appear in the mouth.
- Chronic sinusitis. If a person with chronic sinusitis gets sore throat, then the likelihood of a sore throat degenerating into chronic tonsillitis is quite high.
- Sudden temperature changes. This is especially critical in autumn and spring, when the weather changes frequently. Temperature changes weaken the immune system, which increases the likelihood of acute tonsillitis degenerating into chronic.
- Genetic predisposition to weakened immunity.
In other words, there is no way to immediately become infected with chronic tonsillitis upon contact with a sick person. A person with this disease does not pose a danger to others. But you need to remember an important point that chronic tonsillitis can worsen in the form of acute tonsillitis, but acute tonsillitis can already get sick upon contact with a sick person. If you have chronic tonsillitis, remember that you are not a danger to others until you have an acute tonsillitis attack. If this does happen, it is necessary to minimize communication with people, wear a mask, and so on.
To prevent chronic tonsillitis from exacerbating in the form of tonsillitis, you must follow these rules:
- Very low temperatures should be avoided in every possible way. Therefore, in winter, you need to leave the house less.
- You need to stop eating cold food, such as ice cream.
- You need to see a doctor so that he monitors the development of your disease.You can also get a prescription from a doctor for some medications that significantly increase immunity during periods of sudden temperature changes.
- You need to quit smoking. Numerous studies show that exacerbations in nonsmokers are rare compared to smokers.
