[Epiglottitis with an abscess caused by Haemophilus parainfluenzae].

A healthy 23-year-old man was admitted under the diagnosis of acute epiglottitis. Flexible fiber laryngoscopic examination showed a swollen epiglottis with an abscess. Microbiologic swab showed Haemophilus parainfluenzae, non-haemolytic Streptococcus and non-haemolytic Streptococcus salivarius. Only in 1984 a case of acute epiglottitis due to H. parainfluenzae has been described in the literature. Still, in this case we think that H. parainfluenzae was the most likely pathogen causing the abscess.