Bacterial Flora in Patients Presenting with Sore Throat in Dutch General Practice

The bacterial growth in patients presenting with a sore throat was assayed and four clinical features were tested in order to reliably differentiate between beta-haemolytic streptococci group A (GABHS) and other micro-organisms. For 2 years, 53 general practitioners (GPs) in The Netherlands took throat swabs from all patients, aged 4–60, presenting with a sore throat lasting 14 days or less. Four clinical features: fever (history), (tonsillary) exudate, anterior cervical lymphadenopathy and absence of cough were registered. In 70% of the 598 patients one or more micro-organisms were cultured f... Mehr ...