Background: Acute pharyngitis is the inflammation of the mucous membrane of oropharynx which is caused by various infectious organisms like bacteria, viruses and fungi. The other less common seen causes include allergies and gastro-esophageal reflux disease.

Aim: To look for range of microorganisms involved in causing acute pharyngitis on throat swab specimens.

Methods: After getting consent all the pharyngitis patients attending ENT Department at Akbar Niazi Teaching Hospital (ANTH), Islamabad from January to June 2017 were included in the study. From total of 100 patients throat swabs were obtained by established aseptic method and were sent for culture. The organisms involved were recognized by biochemical tests & their propensity to antimicrobial agents was established by established methods. Data was entered and analyzed by using SPSS v.21.

Results: Out of 100 specimens’ microorganisms were identified in 25 specimens while 75 specimens had no growth. Streptococcus pyogenes was the frequently seen organism 9(90%), while the list was followed by Staphylococcus aureus 14(56%) and Candida albicans 3(12%). In 40% single pathogen was identified with Streptococcus pyogenes in 9 samples (90%) and Staphylococcus aureus in 1(10%), whereas 60% of the culture reports were that of the mix infection.

Conclusion: The study concluded that streptococcus pyogenes and staphylococcus aureus were responsible for majority of single organism infections, while candida albicans together with these bacteria were isolated from mixed infections.

Keywords: Pharyngitis; Streptococcus pyogenes; Throat; Microorganisms