All issues > Volume 38(7); 1995

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1995;38(7):895-900. Published online July 15, 1995.

Appraisal of the Results of Throat Swab Culture Obtained from Pediatric Outpatient Clinic

Sung-Ho SH Cha¹, Byoung-Soo BS Cho¹, Hwan-Jo HJ Suh², Jin-Tae JT Suh³, Seon-Ju SJ Kim⁴

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Kyunghee University, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Kyunghee University, Seoul, Korea
³Department of Clinical Pathology, College of Medicine, Kyunghee University, Seoul, Korea
⁴Department of Clinical Pathology, College of Medicine, Gyongsang National University, Jinju, Korea

Abstract

Purpose
: We can meet a lot of patients with the upper respiratory tract infection in outpatient clinic, most of them are caused by viral in origin, which make us consider prudent prescribing antibiotics. But on the other hand, the accurate diagnosis and proper treatment of group A streptococcal upper respiratory infection should be emphasized concerning about possible development of late sequreale, such as acute rheumatic fever and acute glomerulonephritis. We would like to know the recover rate of beta-hemolytic streptococci by throat swab culture at the out-patient clinic.
Methods
: The throat swab cultures and filled up flow-sheets were undertaken on 316 childr-en who visited to outpatient clinic of pediatrics, Kyunghee university hospital from May 1993 to April 1994 prpspectively. 177 out of 316 children had symptoms and signs of upper respiratory infection, and the remainder were normal children.
Results
: The highest recover rate of BHS(beta-hemolytic streptococci)and GAS(group A st-reptococci)were seen in 5 to 10years old, as 13.5% and 5.4%, respectively. There was no significant difference of recover rate of streptococci between two groups who either had a history of antibiotics treatment or not. BHS were obtained in 32 cases( 10.1%) among 316 chil-dren. while GAS was obtained in 6 cases( 1.9%). Among 32 specimens of BHS, 19 specimens were classified as nongrouping streptococcus.
Conclusion
: The poor recovery rate of GAS in patient with upper respiratory tract infection compared with normal carrier rate is likely due to possible antibiotic abuse, errors in processing samples, and epidemiologic factors such as seasons and geographic areas. we would like to stress nongrouping streptococcal upper respiratory infection, and need to further investigate recovering rate in patients who visit primary clinic in terms of with or without antibiotic prescription.

Keywords :Group A streptococcal infection, Throat swab culture, Upper respiratory infection