TUESDAY, Nov. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Intact tonsils can increase the risk of recurrent strep throat in children, a Mayo Clinic study finds.

Researchers studied 290 children, ages 4 to 16, and concluded that those who still had their tonsils were about three times more likely to have recurrent strep throat than those who'd had their tonsils removed (tonsillectomy).

Over an average of one year, nearly 59 percent of children with their tonsils had at least one strep infection, compared with just over 23 percent of those who'd had a tonsillectomy.

"These results suggest that tonsillectomy is a useful therapy for treating children with recurrent strep throat infections," senior study investigator Dr. Laura Orvidas, an ear, nose and throat surgeon, said in a prepared statement.

"(Tonsillectomy) should decrease the amount of infections experienced by this subset of children and therefore diminish the number of missed school days and hopefully improve overall quality of life," Orvidas said.

The study was published in the journal Laryngoscope.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about strep throat.