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Not yet answered Marked out of 4.00 Fag question Question 36 A patient comes in complaining about a sore throat. You take a look and notice his throat is scarlet red and the tonsils have white lesions on them. What would the patient's diagnosis be? What complication(s) could happen to the patient later on? 1 A- BIU- I E % 3

Answer 1

36. The patient comes in complaining about a sore throat and on observation it is found that his throat is scarlet red and the tonsils have white lesions on them. The patient has been diagnosed and suspected to have strep throat infection. There is a major difference between strep throat and sore throat, as strep throat is a bacterial infection whereas sore throat is a viral one. In general, signs and symptoms of strep throat are very similar to an ordinaty sore throat, but in strep throat, white patches on the tonsils occur with red swollen tonsils, swollen lymph nodes and tiny red spots o the back and roof of the mouth. The diagnosis of the patient is as follows:

The diagnosis includes the following:

(i) Rapid antigen test- A rapid antigen test is performed on a swab sample taken from the throat. This test can detect strep bacteria by looking for the antigens in the throat. If the test is negative, the chance of not getting infected with strep throat cannot be ruled out and a throat culture is performed.

(ii) Throat culture- A sterile swab is rubbed over the back of the throat and tonsils to get a sample of the secretions and then the sample is cultured in a loaboratory for the presence of bacteria.

Strep throat is caused by bacteria known as Streptococcus pyogenes, also called group A Streptoccccus. The complications of sore throat that is accompained by tender, swollen lymph nodes, fever, rash, problems for breathing and swallowing, etc may require the advice of a doctor. The severe complications that may arise later on involves inflammatory reactions which includes- (i) Scarlet fever, a streptococcal infection characterizeed by a prominent rash. (ii) Inflammation of the kidney (poaststreptococcal glomerulonephritis). (iii) Rheumatic fever, a serious inflammatory condition which can affect heart, joints, nervous system and skin. (iv) Poststreptococcal reactive arthritis which is characterized by inflammation of the joints.