Evaluation Of Streptococcal Pharyngitis – Mnemonic

Home - Medical Mnemonics - Evaluation Of Streptococcal Pharyngitis – Mnemonic
You are currently viewing Evaluation Of Streptococcal Pharyngitis – Mnemonic

Here is a quick mnemonic “EVALUATION OF PHARYNGITIS“ to remember about Evaluation Of Streptococcal Pharyngitis

This can be valuable for patients as well as medical doctors, nurses & students doing their clinical rounds. You can also find it very useful for med exams like USMLE, MBBS, NEET PG, FMGE, NExT, MCAT & NCLEX exams

Evaluation Of Streptococcal Pharyngitis : How To Remember Easily ?

  • E – Each of the Centor criteria is assigned 1 point.
  • V – Patients with no points have a 2% probability of being infected with GAS.
  • A – Adults meeting two or three Centor criteria have an intermediate probability of GAS pharyngitis.
  • L – Lower threshold for diagnosing and treating GAS pharyngitis in specific patient groups.
  • U – Use of rapid GAS testing or routine antibiotic treatment is not recommended in some guidelines outside the United States.
  • A – Antibiotic treatment should be guided by the results of a rapid antigen test for adults meeting two or three Centor criteria.
  • T – Throat cultures are not recommended for routine evaluation of adults with sore throat.
  • I – Improper collection technique can affect the sensitivity of rapid strep tests.
  • O – Outside of the United States, complications from streptococcal pharyngitis are rare.
  • N – Not all positive tests represent true infection; some may be falsely positive or indicate GAS carriage.
  • O – Overuse of strep testing in adults with respiratory symptoms should be discouraged.
  • F – Four Centor criteria indicate a probability of 41% for GAS infection.
  • P – Pharyngitis in children should be confirmed with testing.
  • H – History of acute rheumatic fever and streptococcal exposure increase the threshold for diagnosing GAS pharyngitis.
  • A – Adults meeting four Centor criteria may consider rapid testing or empirical antibiotic treatment.
  • R – Rapid GAS-specific antigen tests have a sensitivity of ~80% and a specificity of ~95%.
  • Y – Young adults and adolescents may carry GAS without exhibiting symptoms.
  • N – No treatment or testing is necessary for adults meeting no criteria or only one Centor criterion.
  • G – Guidelines and quality measures may recommend GAS testing regardless of Centor criteria.
  • I – Infection-specific antibodies are used as the gold standard test for true GAS infection.
  • T – Test specificity for throat cultures may be as low as 50-70%.
  • I – Intermediate probability of GAS pharyngitis for adults meeting two or three Centor criteria.
  • S – Symptomatic relief may be delayed with throat cultures compared to rapid testing.

Mnemonic : EVALUATION OF PHARYNGITIS

Dr. Arin Nandi

Passionate About Medical Science & Helping Future Doctors Achieve Top Ranks In Medical Exams. He is professionally a dentist as well as a public health expert from JIPMER (1), (2)working in health department
Author