Treatment of anginose infectious mononucleosis with metronidazole

16 patients with the anginose type of infectious mononucleosis were treated with metronidazole, and another 3 patients were given clindamycin. Most of the patients had been given penicillin or erythromycin before admittance to hospital. Treatment with metronidazole had a favourable effect on the course of the disease; the body temperature was normalized, signs of tonsillitis disappeared and cervical lymph nodes decreased in size within 3 days in 10 patients and in the remaining 6 within 4 or 5 days. Difficulty in mastication and swallowing was usually relieved within 1 to 2 days of treatment. The period before normalization was significantly shorter than in 10 controls. Two of the 3 patients who were given clindamycin developed exanthems, but otherwise a similar favourable effect as in the metronidazole-treated patients was observed.