Strep Throat Resesarch Paper

September 11, 2013

Medical Case Study – Strep Throat

A twenty-year-old man named Chi walks into a health clinic, claiming that he is suffering from a sore throat. Chi is concerned that his sore throat may be the result of a strep throat infection. Strep throat, or Streptococcal pharyngitis, is a contagious infection caused by bacteria called Group A Streptococcus. This infection affects the pharynx (including the tonsils) and, less commonly, the larynx.

A physical test for strep throat involves determining the symptoms of the patient, Chi, in this case. Strep throat is characterized by a fever, a sore throat, and enlarged lymph nodes therefore in order for it to be determined that Chi has strep throat, all of these symptoms must be present. However, if Chi is also suffering from symptoms such as runny/stuffy nose, sneezing, and coughing, it is likely that he does not have strep throat. Instead, he might be suffering from a viral infection such as mononucleosis, the common cold, or influenza (the flu). As stated by the U.S National Library of Medicine, sore throat symptoms are most typically caused by viral infections, not bacterial infections like strep throat. All of these infections differ from strep throat in that viruses cause them whereas streptococcus bacteria cause strep throat. Treatment for strep throat differs from viral infection treatment because you typically use antibiotics to treat strep throat whereas antibiotics have absolutely no effect on viruses (2012). The only way to treat a viral infection is to rest, drink a lot of water, and let your immune system fight it off.

Once it has been determined that Chi indeed presents the physical symptoms that are associated with strep throat, appropriate lab tests must be completed to determine that Streptococcus bacteria is present. There are a few different ways to officially determine whether or not Chi has strep throat. A throat culture is a test to detect the presence of a bacterial or fungal...