Empirical validation of Polish guidelines for the management of acute streptococcal pharyngitis in children.

Objective: Group A Streptococcus (GAS) pharyngitis is currently the only commonly occurring form of acute pharyngitis for which antibiotic therapy is definitely indicated. Polish guidelines advocate the use of modified Centor score (MCS) to assess the probability of GAS pharyngitis. They advise performing throat culture or rapid antigen detection test (RADT) in children with score 2-3 in MCS and treating with antibiotic only those in whom GAS was detected.

[Utility of clinical differentiation and microbiological examination for appropriate antibiotic therapy of acute pharyngotonsillitis in children].

Unlabelled: The differentiation between streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis and that of viral etiology is crucial, since it allows to discriminate patients who need to be treated with the use of antibiotics from those who only need symptomatic treatment. For that purpose, Centor/Mclssac's scale, based on the clinical examination and a history of a patient, is suggested by "Polish Recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of community-acquired respiratory tract infections 2010". In patients who have obtained two or more points according to this scale, a definitive diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis depends on the identification of the bacterium, which can be performed by throat swab culture or by rapid antigen detection test.