Fusobacterium necrophorum Subsp. funduliforme in Tonsils from Various Patient Populations in Japan.

Fusobacterium necrophorum has recently been suggested to be associated with tonsillopharyngitis, peritonsillar abscess, and recurrent tonsillitis. Between the 2 subspecies of F. necrophorum, subsp. funduliforme is known to be a major human pathogen. To better understand the epidemiology of F. necrophorum subsp. funduliforme (FNSF), we studied the prevalence of FNSF in the tonsils of patients undergoing elective tonsillectomy (TE) for different indications. Adult patients who underwent elective TE from October 2014 to November 2015 were included. The tonsils were sent for aerobic and anaerobic tissue culture within 30 min of excision; the presence of FNSF was detected using PCR with gyrB primers and 16S rRNA. A total of 32 patients were enrolled. The prevalence of FNSF identified by either culture or gyrB PCR did not significantly differ between infectious and noninfectious TE indications. The constant presence of FNSF might not be associated with recurrent pharyngotonsillitis.