Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: sore + throat + throats  Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/7/2008)

John finds his voice after throat cancer GazetteLive, UK - 18 minutes ago The 59-year-old South Bank man suffered a sore throat for months before he went to see his GP and was referred straight to James Cook University Hospital, ... New York Times Illness and Injury, and a Season Gone Awry New York Times, United States - Battling a persistent fever and sore throat ? both have plagued him off and on all year ? Scott saw four doctors while trying to compete in the ... Antibiotics: Doctors told to stop indiscriminate prescribing What Doctors Don't Tell You, UK - Constant sore throats and tonsiloliths: - Gargling with a strong brew made from red sage herb can help soothe the sore throat, says one reader, ... Dobinson performance cut short by sore throat Collingwood Wasaga Beach, Canada - Jul 31, 2008 Dobinson performed on Friday evening at the Old Town Terrace, but later came down with a bout of strep throat, which prevented him from singing. ... Don?t buy a dishwasher ? be one! Southwest Voice, CA - Aug 4, 2008 Our doctor?s prescriptions failed to cure the sore throat. Yet, neither our babies or myself were affected by wife?s affliction. Wife wisely determined that ... Interior Minister affirms he missed Cabinet meeting due to sore throat Thaindian.com, Thailand - Jul 29, 2008 Interior Minister Police Captain Chalerm Yubamrung revealed yesterday that his absence from the Cabinet meeting yesterday was due to a sore throat. ... Prestige Brands Holdings, Inc. Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2009 ... MarketWatch - 27 minutes ago Key brands include Compound W(R) wart remover, Chloraseptic(R) sore throat treatments, New-Skin(R) liquid bandage, Clear Eyes(R) and Murine(R) eye and ear ...PBH Phillyist Exclusive! I Am Barack Obama's Vice Presidential Candidate Phillyist, PA - ... anger leads to loud anger, loud anger leads to yelling, yelling leads to a sore throat, and sore throats lead to a restless electorate. ... TSN.ca Ray gets weekly honour Edmonton Sun,  Canada - "I have got a little bit of a cold, a little stuffy nose, sore throat. But nothing that is going to keep me out," Ray said before yesterday's practice. ... Ray named CFL offensive player of the week Canada.com all 29 news articles » 7:55 am - Food, Fluids Best for Sick Kids KARK, Little Rock - Aug 4, 2008 There is a good chance your toddler has a sore throat if they are refusing to swallow solid food. Douglas suggests adding honey to warm water to soothe the ...

Strep Throat Symptoms Aid in Accurate Diagnosis

People with severe sore throats may not have to wait that long day or two for a diagnosis of strep throat, researchers report.

Investigators found that in patients with several symptoms of strep throat--such as swollen glands and fever--a quick tool called the rapid antigen test was more than 90% accurate in making the strep-throat call.

The traditional throat culture used to confirm strep throat so patients can begin antibiotics takes 1 or 2 days to yield results. So the rapid antigen test, which can be processed during a patient`s office visit, is becoming a popular alternative, according to researchers.

"We basically confirmed our suspicions that the rapid test was highly accurate in people with a high likelihood of strep throat based on (symptoms),`` Dr. Ralph Gonzales, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, says.

Rapid tests have the benefit of allowing for more immediate treatment. However, they are thought to be only 80% to 90% accurate, failing to pick up 10% to 20% of patients who in fact have strep throat, Gonzales said. Negative results are followed up with a culture taken from a throat swab to catch these cases.

Gonzales` team looked at whether the rapid test`s reliability varied according to patients` symptoms. Their findings are published in the December issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

The researchers studied 498 patients who had received a rapid antigen test over a 6-month period. They found that 6% of the patients with negative rapid tests turned out to test positive for strep throat after a throat culture.

"In our clinical experience, it was fairly infrequent we would get positive throat cultures when the rapid test was negative,`` Gonzales noted.

Moreover, the researchers found that for patients with all four major features of strep throat--fever, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes and absence of cough--the rapid test`s accuracy increased to 97%. Among patients with three of these symptoms, the test was 90% accurate. However, when patients had only one symptom, the rapid test was only 61% accurate.

"The study suggests that when physicians use a rapid antigen test in patients who are showing multiple features of strep throat, throat-culture confirmation of a negative is probably unnecessary,`` Gonzales said.

On the other hand, he added, rapid tests are highly inaccurate for patients with no or few symptoms of strep throat and should not be relied upon.