Diagnóstico precoce das faringoamigdalites estreptocócicas: avaliação pelo teste de aglutinação de partículas de látex

Abstract

Objectives: Acute pharyngitis is one of the most common diseases in pediatric practice, and the most common bacterial etiology is group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus (GABHS). Correct diagnosis and treatment are primarily of importance to the prevention of non-suppurative sequelae. Rapid tests for detecting the antigen of group A streptococcus are a useful tool for the diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis, due to the speed of results, accuracy and low cost; however, in our country they are little used and have been little studied. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of a GABHS rapid antigen detection test kit, in comparison with oropharynx swab culture. Methods:Children aged 1 to 18 years with clinical diagnoses of acute pharyngitis were chosen at public emergency and private clinical services in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, with children being excluded if they had taken antibiotics within 30 days of their consultation. The final sample consisted of 229 patients, each of whom had two oropharynx swabs taken, one for rapid GABHS testing and the other to be sent for culture. Results:We observed sensitivity of 90.7%, specificity of 89.1%, a positive predictive value of 72.1%, a negative predictive value of 96.9% and a positive likelihood ratio of 9.0 for the rapid test used here, compared with culture. Conclusions:The rapid test studied exhibited a good correlation with culture and is, therefore, of great use in clinical practice for detection of GABHS.J Pediatr (Rio J). 2007;83(5):465-470:Pharyngitis, tonsilitis, Streptococcus pyogenes, diagnosis, latex fixation test.

Tonsillar hyperplasia and recurrent tonsillitis: clinical-histological correlation

“…According to Alcantara et al 7 , tonsillectomy is the most commonly performed surgical procedure in pediatric patients. The ages of the patients in this study coincide with the age group where hypertrophy and tonsillitis are more intense and frequent 3 , 13 .…”

Prevalence of Group A Beta-Hemolytic Streptococcus Oropharyngeal Colonization in Children and Therapeutic Regimen Based on Antistreptolysin Levels: Data from a City From Southern Brazil

“…Current modalities include oropharyngeal cultures, antistreptolysin-O (ASO) and anti-DNaseB, although access to the latter is scarce [11]. While oropharyngeal cultures enable the detection of an active infection by GABHS, ASO indicates only one, possibly recent, previous contact with the pathogen [12, 13]. …”