Microbiological aspects of acute odontogenic osteomyelitis in children

Objective: to identify the species composition of pathogens causing acute odontogenic inflammatory process in the children’s jaws; to examine the sensitivity and resistance of the isolated microflora to antibiotics of various groups; and to determine the dependence of the disease clinical course on the type of dominant pathogen. Materials and Methods.The results of a microbiological study of exudate from purulent odontogenic foci of 900 children regarding periostitis and osteomyelitis of the jaws were analyzed. Results. In 65.6% of cases, the causative agent was Streptococcus pyogenes known as group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus (GABHS) possessing a high sensitivity to vancomycin (99%), fluoroquinolones (98%), beta-lactam antibiotics (91%), and the highest resistance to macrolides (41%). We have also isolated Streptococcus viridans (6.1%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (4.3%) andmixed microflora (14.3%). The syndrome of endogenous intoxication of the body was manifested by high fever in 56% of cases, by leukocytosis in 38% of patents, and by acceleration of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate in 57.4% of study subjects. There was no statistically significant difference in the degree of endogenous intoxication between groups with different types of streptococci. Conclusion. The cause of the inflammatory process in the jaws was GABHS (65.6% of cases) with a high sensitivity to vancomycin (99%), fluoroquinolones (98%), and beta-lactam antibiotics (91%).