In the old days ( or at least when I was young 🙂 ), tonsillectomy was a common procedure. The current thinking is that removing tonsils is indicated in only a few situations. Most children do not need their tonsils out and we do not remove them because ” they are big”, or ” the child is always sick with fever”, or the child ” always gets a sore throat”. In the case of strep throat, we look for a carrier in the family. This is done by swabbing everyone when they are well for a while.
A recent study published in Pediatrics ( a respected Paediatric journal), showed that long term, tonsillectomy did not help children with recurrent strep or sore throats. This is what we have been trying to explain to parents, but here is a study that reinforces this:
Pediatrics:February 2017, VOLUME 139 / ISSUE 2