[Some factors influencing the number of staphylococci in the mouth and throat of children].

The relationship between the count of polymorphonuclear granulocytes in blood and also between the percentage of oral and pharyngeal streptococci showing antagonistic activity on the indicator strain Staphylococcus aureus 209P and the number of staphylococci in the oral cavity and pharynx were investigated. The study comprised 92 children, of both sexes, aged 4-15; among them there were 48 children with the decreased number of circulating polymorphonuclear granulocytes due to the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). A statistically significant negative correlation between the number of polymorphonuclear granulocytes in blood and the count of oral and pharyngeal staphylococci (both coagulase-negative and coagulase-positive) in children with ALL as well as in healthy children was revealed. The Pearsons linear correlation coefficients between these parameters were r = -0.364 (p < 0.001) and r = -0.313 (p = 0.019) for the oral cavity and for the pharynx, respectively. The streptococci showing antagonistic activity had only some influence on the count of staphylococci in the oral cavity. The Pearson's linear correlation coefficient between this number and the count of staphylococci in 1 ml of saliva was r = -0.382 (p < 0.001).