Data on the burden of physical illness specifically among adolescents are scarce. Major new insights about the ways in which adolescents differ from both children and adults have emerged from a diverse range of research.¹ Upper respiratory infections are the most common cause of visits to paediatrician clinics among children and acute nasopharyngitis is the most frequent upper respiratory infection.²

To estimate the burden of acute nasopharyngitis among adolescents, a cross-sectional prospective population-based investigation was conducted in Salvador, northeast Brazil, from November 2002 to July 2003. Adolescents (aged 10–19 years) were randomly recruited at school. Data were collected by interview using a standard questionnaire …