Home kit for surface/throat culture - is it reliable?

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It is often about group A streptococcal laryngitis, known as a common laryngitis among children, about 15-30% of laryngitis among children aged 5-15.

This sore throat is common towards winter and early spring. During this period, 35-40 of the cases of sore throats among children and teenagers happen because of group A streptococcal sore throat, abbreviated (GAS).

Symptoms of   (GAS) throat are sore throat, fever of more than 38 degrees,  bb3b-136bad5cf58d_on the tonsils, and cervical lymph nodes are enlarged. תסמינים אחרים אשר יכולים להופיע הם: כאב ראש, בחילות והקאות, כאבי בטן,_cc781905-5cde -3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_muscle pain, rash, or pointy palate bleeding  Symptoms usually begin one to three days after the last exposure and last about seven to ten days.

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Should streptococcal laryngitis be a concern?

Type A streptococcal throat infection should turn on a red light because in children and sometimes also adults the bacterium can attack the body several weeks later and this time with other diseases.

An example of diseases that can occur a number of weeks later are: rheumatic disease (damage to the heart valves, the bacterium incubates in the valves and creates colonies, causes the destruction of the valve, which can lead to valve surgery), rheumatic fever (multisystem inflammatory disease as a reaction to the bacteria's protein), The second (redness of the skin), nephritis (damages the glomerulus of the kidney and consequently kidney function), toxic shock syndrome (the body's reaction to the bacteria's toxin).
 

What is important to do?

While the child or a relative complains of a sore throat, a throat culture should be urgently performed to rule out type A streptococcal bacterial laryngitis. There are cases and it may be a different bacteria and it may also be that the source is viral and then there will not be a positive culture.
 

What types of tests are there and what is the best to perform?

Let's start with the home assessment for throat culture abbreviated as RADT. Throat culture with answer in minutes. Although it is good, but with a sensitivity of 70%. There is a chance of missing 30% of patients infected with the aforementioned bacteria.
In case the accelerated culture is positive, antibiotic treatment should be taken, in case the result is negative   it is recommended to perform a standard throat culture in a laboratory where the bacteria grows and can be identified.

There is a throat culture that is performed in a laboratory, a standard method the bacteria is grown in a vessel and after 24-72 hours the bacteria forms colonies and there is an answer to the type of bacteria and its sensitivity to antibiotics.
 

What are the advantages of a laboratory test versus a home assessment?

1. More accurate with high sensitivity.

2. Identifies bacteria other than Streptococcus A

3. The answer comes with antibiotic sensitivity tailored to the bacteria.

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In light of the above data, it can be concluded that the most accurate and reliable test is a throat culture in a laboratory at a health fund or a private laboratory in order to get more accurate results. A simple test can prevent future complications and great distress for the child and the family.

In the service of a private nurse, this test can be performed at the customer's home, as well as additional cultures can be performed.

Contact us for more details.

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