Article Abstract:
A single blood agar plate inoculated with throat cultures and cultured in the presence of oxygen may be just as effective in detecting group A streptococci as more complex methods. Researchers took throat swabs from 301 children with suspected strep throat and cultured them in one of four ways: on a TSA plate cultured in air, on a TSA plate cultured under carbon dioxide, on an SSA plate cultured in the absence of oxygen and in Todd-Hewitt broth. The swabs that were to be cultured on the TSA plate in air were also left to dry for 2 to 6 hours, whereas the other swabs were cultured immediately. All four culture methods were equally effective in recovering group A streptococci from the throat swabs. Federal regulations that call for complicated culture techniques may be overly burdensome and unnecessary.
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Article Abstract:
It is possible to tell whether a heart murmur is caused by an underlying abnormality without doing an echocardiogram. A heart murmur occurs when unusual blood flow within the heart causes an abnormal sound. It can be caused by an anatomic abnormality. Researchers reviewed the literature to find studies on the accuracy of the physical exam in detecting cardiac abnormalities underlying murmurs. Most of the studies confirmed the adequacy of the physical exam. However, most of the studies evaluated cardiologists.
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Article Abstract:
Three clinical prediction rules are described for diagnosing strep throat during a physical examination. Strep throat is a throat infection caused by Streptococcus bacteria. There is no single symptom that can accurately diagnose strep throat so a combination of symptoms must be used.
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