LEMIERRE’S SYNDROME –A Rare Fusobacterial Complication

Abstract

Lemierre’s syndrome is a rare complication following an acute episode of upper respiratory tract infection. Dr. André Lemierre, a French bacteriologist in 1936, who first published 20 cases in lancet out of which only 2 survived. The causative agent is typically Fusobacterium. The number of cases of Lemierre’s syndrome subsequently declined with the introduction of antibiotics (1940) and widespread use of antibiotics to treat tonsillitis. With the increase of antibiotic resistance and a greater reluctance to prescribe antibiotics for minor conditions such as tonsillitis and pharyngitis, there are now concerns developing about the re-emergence of the condition. This increasing prevalence along with unfamiliarity of clinicians with the classical features of this syndrome may result in the misdiagnosis or delay in diagnosis of this potentially fatal illness. If left untreated, the mortality rate is over 90%. We report a case of 48-year-old male diagnosed with this condition and successfully treated, any delay in the diagnosis could have been fatal.