pharyngitis and fusobacterium
a recent article in the Annals of Internal Medicine looked at the causes of pharyngitis at the University of Alabama at Birmingham student health center (see pharyngitis fusobacterium annals 2015 in dropbox, or Ann Intern Med. 2015;162:241-247). details: --312 students aged 15-30 with acute pharyngitis were compared to 180 asymptomatic students (mean age 23, about 60% women, 74% white) --PCR was done on the throat swabs to detect Fusobacterium necrophorum, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and group A and group C/G b-hemolytic streptococci. and the Centor score was calculated (Centor, by the way, is the lead author of this study). the Centor score is 1 point for each of fever, lack of cough, tender anterior cervical nodes, and tonsillar exudates, with higher scores more likely to reflect group A strep infection. --results: --F necrophorum in 20.5% of those with pharyngitis and 9.4% of the asymptomatic ...