Caution Needed: Molecular Diagnosis of Pediatric Group A Streptococcal Pharyngitis

Robert R Tanz, Xiaotian Zheng, Donna M. Carter, Molly C. Steele, Stanford T Shulman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Among throat swabs processed in the microbiology laboratory as back-up for negative rapid antigen detection test results, we found a significant increase in the proportion that tested positive for group A streptococci after changing from throat culture to a molecular test.For group A streptococcus testing, our hospital laboratory replaced throat cultures with a stand-alone molecular diagnostic test that takes no more than 1 hour to perform. The prevalence of positive laboratory test results increased significantly (P < .0001) after the change to molecular testing, probably because of the extreme sensitivity of the molecular test.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)e145-e147
JournalJournal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society
Volume7
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 17 2018

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
  • Infectious Diseases

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