Lab

Throat Culture

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Throat Culture

  • See Also
  1. Streptococcal Rapid Antigen Test
  2. Group A Streptococcal PCR (Point-Of-Care GAS Nucleic Acid Amplification Test)
  3. Group A Streptococcal Pharyngitis
  4. Pharyngitis
  5. Tonsillitis
  • Indication
  1. Suspected Group A Streptococcal Pharyngitis
    1. Not recommended as primary test due to 24 hour delay
  2. Confirmatory testing of a negative Streptococcal Rapid Antigen Test
    1. Negative Streptococcal Rapid Antigen Test in age 5 to 15 years
      1. As of 2012, not recommended as a backup test in adults (lower Incidence, lower complication rate)
    2. Also identifies other organisms
  • Technique
  1. Swab posterior oropharynx and Tonsils
  2. Cultured on 5% sheep blood agar plate
  3. Requires 24 hour minimum for adequate growth
  • Efficacy
  1. Highly dependent on technique
  2. Does not differentiate streptococcal carrier state
  3. Single swab with single culture in adults
    1. Test Sensitivity: 90%
    2. Test Specificity: 99%
  • References
  1. Mustafa (2020) Front Cell Infect Microbiol 10:563627 [PubMed]