Appropriate Antibiotic Use for Acute Pharyngitis
Authors: Jerome R. Hoffman, Richelle J. Cooper, Richard E. Besser
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2002)

Letters16 April 2002Appropriate Antibiotic Use for Acute PharyngitisJerome R. Hoffman, MD, MA, Richelle J. Cooper, MD, MSHS, and Richard E. Besser, MDJerome R. Hoffman, MD, MAUniversity of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA 90024 (Hoffman, Cooper)Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Atlanta, GA 30333 (Besser)Search for more papers by this author, Richelle J. Cooper, MD, MSHSUniversity of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA 90024 (Hoffman, Cooper)Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Atlanta, GA 30333 (Besser)Search for more papers by this author, and Richard E. Besser, MDUniversity of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA 90024 (Hoffman, Cooper)Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Atlanta, GA 30333 (Besser)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-136-8-200204160-00019 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:We thank Drs. Zwart and Sachs for their interest in our paper. We largely agree with the overall tenor of their comments. However, we do not believe that any good evidence supports a benefit from administering antibiotics to patients with non-group A streptococcal pharyngitis. In Zwart and colleagues' study (1), the results are neither clinically nor statistically compelling; indeed, in the Discussion section of that paper, the authors are (appropriately) much more cautious about non-group A streptococci than they are in their letter. We are therefore not convinced of the need for “better tests” to identify such infections.... References1. Zwart S, Sachs AP, Ruijs GJ, Gubbels JW, Hoes AW, deMelker RA. Penicillin for acute sore throat: randomised double blind trial of seven days versus three days treat-ment or placebo in adults. BMJ. 2000;320:150-4. [PMID: 10634735] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Ebell MH, Smith MA, Barry HC, Ives K, Carey M. The rational clinical examina-tion.Does this patient have strep throat? JAMA. 2000;284:2912-8. [PMID: 11147989] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Jerome R. Hoffman, MD, MA; Richelle J. Cooper, MD, MSHS; Richard E. Besser, MDAffiliations: University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA 90024 (Hoffman, Cooper)Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Atlanta, GA 30333 (Besser) PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoPrinciples of Appropriate Antibiotic Use for Acute Pharyngitis in Adults: Background Richelle J. Cooper , Jerome R. Hoffman , John G. Bartlett , Richard E. Besser , Ralph Gonzales , John M. Hickner , and Merle A. Sande Appropriate Antibiotic Use for Acute Pharyngitis Sjoerd Zwart and Alfred Sachs Metrics 16 April 2002Volume 136, Issue 8Page: 633KeywordsAntibioticsAntigensDecision makingForecastingPharyngitisStreptococcal pharyngitis ePublished: 16 April 2002 Issue Published: 16 April 2002 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2002 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...