Acute epiglottitis: challenge of a rarely recognized emergency.

Acute epiglottitis is a fulminating infection of young children, requiring urgent and specific treatment. Most cases are caused by infection with Haemophilus influenzae type b. Only a few cases, nearly all of them fatal, have been reported from Britain, but probably many others go unrecognized. Of four cases seen by us in the past six years three survived, having responded rapidly and completely to treatment. This consisted chiefly of measures to deal with respiratory tract obstruction and parenteral administration of antibiotics. There is need for a widespread awareness of the existence, presenting features, and extreme urgency for treatment of this disease.