Corynebacterium hemolyticum and Pharyngitis

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To the editor: Miller and associates (1) make assumptions and conclusions regarding Corynebacterium hemolyticum without any control group. They assume that C. hemolyticum was the cause of the pharyngitis whenever it was cultured, with the exception of seven patients whose cultures also grew beta-hemolytic non-group A Streptococci or Haemophilus influenzae. Without a control group showing the incidence of asymptomatic carriage in a similar group of people, or aggressive viral culturing, no conclusions about the incidence of C. hemolyticum causing pharyngitis can be made. It is well known that some adenovirus strains can cause a pharyngitis indistinguishable from "strep throat" and