A six-month audit of the isolation of Fusobacterium necrophorum from patients with sore throat in a district general hospital.

Fusobacterium necrophorum is an obligate anaerobe believed to be a member of the normal flora of the human oropharangeal and urogenital tract. It has been associated with deep-seated infections and was first described in 1936 by Lemierre, a French microbiologist. There is now strong evidence to suggest that it is also a cause of recurrent sore throat and persistent sore throat syndrome (PSTS) without leading to full systemic infection.