OBJECTIVE:

Patients who present with sore throat are usually treated with antibiotics. Although the most frequent bacterial cause of suppurative tonsillitis is Group A Beta Hemolytic Streptococcus (GABHS), only 5-15% of the total cases of tonsillitis are caused by this microorganism. Throat swab culture is the gold standard for diagnosis, but the results are obtained in 24-48 hours, therefore faster techniques have been developed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of rapid streptococcus tests in adult patients with sore throat.

METHODS:

Rapid streptococcus tests (MK Bio Strep A Test Device) and definitive throat cultures (5% blood sheep agar-Oxoid) were performed by using throat swabs from 143 patients 18 year-old and over. The results of the rapid streptococcus tests were compared with those of the throat cultures.

RESULTS:

GABHS was recovered from 15 patients (10.5%). One hundred twenty eight patients (89.5%) had no GABHS in their throat cultures and 125 of them (97.6%) had negative rapid streptococcus test The rapid streptococcus test results were positive in all of the patients with positive culture. In three patients (2.5%) whose throat cultures were negative for GABHS, the results of the rapid streptococcus tests were positive.

CONCLUSION:

Our results showed that using rapid streptococcus test in patients presenting with sore throat could be useful for diagnosing GABHS infection and avoiding unnecessary antibiotic therapy.

Keywords: Sore throat, rapid antigen test; throat culture