The impact of social restrictions on the incidence and microbiology of peritonsillar abscess: a retrospective cohort study

We aimed to explore the impact of social distancing on the incidence and microbiology of peritonsillar abscess (PTA). We performed a cross-sectional analysis of all patients with PTA and their microbiological findings in the 2 years preceding versus the 2 years following the COVID-19 lockdown in Denmark (11 March 2020), who were admitted to the Ear-Nose-Throat Department, Aarhus University Hospital. Age-stratified population data for the catchment area were obtained from Statistics Denmark. The annual incidence rate was significantly higher in the 2-year period before (21.8 cases/100 000 inhabitants) compared with after (14.9 cases/100 000) the lockdown (p