J03 Acute tonsillitis

Category / Non-billable header 9 subcodes

Block: Acute upper respiratory infections (J00-J06)

Excludes 1 (cannot be coded together)

  • acute sore throat (J02.-)
  • hypertrophy of tonsils (J35.1)
  • peritonsillar abscess (J36)
  • sore throat NOS (J02.9)
  • streptococcal sore throat (J02.0)

Excludes 2 (not included here)

  • chronic tonsillitis (J35.0)

Subcodes

Each subcode links to a detail page with full clinical annotations.

Code Description Billable
J03..0 Streptococcal tonsillitis No
J03..00 Acute streptococcal tonsillitis, unspecified Yes
J03..01 Acute recurrent streptococcal tonsillitis Yes
J03..8 Acute tonsillitis due to other specified organisms No
J03..80 Acute tonsillitis due to other specified organisms Yes
J03..81 Acute recurrent tonsillitis due to other specified organisms Yes
J03..9 Acute tonsillitis, unspecified No
J03..90 Acute tonsillitis, unspecified Yes
J03..91 Acute recurrent tonsillitis, unspecified Yes

Last reviewed: September 2026