Inflammation of the epiglottis with sudden onset, bacterial origin, and drooling is called?

• A. Croup
• B. Pneumonia
• C. Shingles
• D. Epiglottitis

Answer: (D)

Inflammation of the epiglottis with sudden onset, bacterial origin, and drooling is called epiglottitis. The epiglottis is the flap at the top of the airway that helps protect the windpipe during swallowing. When bacteria cause swelling here, the airway can become dangerously narrow very quickly, making swallowing painful and difficult and leading to drooling because saliva can’t be swallowed easily. This combination of abrupt onset and drooling is a key clue pointing to epiglottitis rather than other airway conditions. For comparison, croup is typically viral and presents with a barking cough and noisy breathing but not the dramatic drooling; pneumonia involves the lungs with symptoms like fever and chest cough rather than swelling of the epiglottis; shingles is a nerve-related viral reactivation causing a painful rash in a dermatomal pattern and is not an airway swelling issue.