CURRENT ASPECTS OF ACUTE STREPTOCOCCAL TONSILLOPHARYNGITIS DIAGNOSTICS IN CHILDREN

Acute tonsillopharyngitis in children is one of the most common reasons for medical consultations. The majority of acute pharyngeal inflammatory diseases are viral. The frequency of bacterial tonsillopharyngitis in children (the main causative agent is group A Streptococcus, GAS) is about 20–30%. In...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: D. P. Polyakov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: "Paediatrician" Publishers LLC 2013-05-01
Series:Voprosy Sovremennoj Pediatrii
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Online Access:https://vsp.spr-journal.ru/jour/article/view/329
Description
Summary:Acute tonsillopharyngitis in children is one of the most common reasons for medical consultations. The majority of acute pharyngeal inflammatory diseases are viral. The frequency of bacterial tonsillopharyngitis in children (the main causative agent is group A Streptococcus, GAS) is about 20–30%. In spite of it antibiotics are prescribed for 95% of patients, thus it is inappropriate. On the other hand misdiagnosis of acute streptococcal tonsillopharyngitis and antibiotics refusal can lead to suppurative and nonsuppurative rheumatic complications. Some prominent trials have shown a poor ability of signs and inflammatory biomarkers to identify tonsillopharyngitis streptococcal vs. viral. So it is impossible to use them as indication for antibiotic. The experience of clinical score use (McIsaac etc.) have also demonstrated a poor prognostic value. As a result the throat swab culture is the «gold standard» of acute streptococcal tonsillopharyngitis. It has such limitations as rare microbiology labs, method technology, the price and the delay in obtaining result. An alternative technique is GAS rapid antigen detecting test (RADT) for the identification of GAS directly from throat swabs. The world data shows a high sensitivity and specificity of modern RADTs.
ISSN:1682-5527
1682-5535