Strep Throat News and Research

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Acute inflammation of the structures of the pharynx and tonsils, also known as tonsillopharyngitis, represents a common condition that is usually encountered in outpatients seeking healthcare interventions. Sore throat and fever are the dominant symptoms of this condition which usually follows a benign course that resolves without any antimicrobial treatment.

Despite doctors’ concerns, pharmacists get more leeway to offer treatment with testing

When Reyna or Justin Ansley or one of their three kids feels sick and needs to be tested for strep throat or flu, there's a good chance they'll head to their local pharmacy in Hemingford or Alliance, Nebraska. Dave Randolph, the proprietor of both locations of Dave's Pharmacy, can do a rapid test, give them medicine if they need it, and send them on their way.

31 Mar 2022

Stem cell infusion improves the survival of mice with sepsis

A one-time infusion of stem cells from bone marrow improves the survival of mice with sepsis, shows a study published today in eLife.

15 Feb 2022

Oral penicillin may be a safer option for people with high-risk rheumatic heart disease

A growing body of evidence indicates that some people thought to have an allergic response to injectable penicillin, the standard treatment for rheumatic heart disease, may instead be experiencing a cardiac reaction to the medicine, according to a new American Heart Association presidential advisory published today in Journal of the American Heart Association.

19 Jan 2022

The ER charged him $6,500 for six stitches. No wonder his critically ill wife avoided the ER.

Jason and DeeAnn Dean recently relocated to her hometown of Dellrose, Tennessee, where she grew up on a farm. Both in their late 40s, they're trying to start a green dream business that combines organic farming with a health and wellness consulting company.

19 Nov 2021

How rural communities are losing their pharmacies

Batson's Drug Store seems like a throwback to a simpler time. The independently owned pharmacy in Howard, Kansas, still runs an old-fashioned soda counter and hand-dips ice cream. But the drugstore, the only one in the entire county, teeters on the edge between nostalgia and extinction.

15 Nov 2021

Penicillin can prevent progression of latent rheumatic heart disease in children

A regular, affordable antibiotic treatment significantly reduced the risk of underlying rheumatic heart disease progression in children and adolescents, according to a new study.

14 Nov 2021

Study finds dramatic decreases in antibiotic dispensing for children during the pandemic

As children made fewer visits to health facilities and engaged in social distancing and other COVID-19 mitigation measures, a smaller number of them also received prescription drugs, a new study suggests.

20 Jul 2021

How one rural town without a pharmacy is crowdsourcing to get meds

The building that once housed the last drugstore in this town of fewer than 600 is now a barbecue restaurant, where pit boss Larry Holtman dishes out smoked brisket and pulled pork across the same counter where pharmacists dispensed vital medications more than 30 years ago.

1 Jul 2021

Investment in primary prevention can reduce rheumatic heart disease in the African Union

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains a major cause of cardiovascular disease in Africa, even as acute rheumatic fever and RHD have become rare in high-income countries.

12 May 2021

New model could help test vaccines against the deadly Strep A bacteria

Researchers have successfully developed a new Strep A human challenge model, paving the way to test vaccines against the common deadly bacteria that causes sore throats, scarlet fever and skin sores.

10 May 2021

Telemedicine is a tool — not a replacement for your doctor’s touch

Earlier in the pandemic it was vital to see doctors over platforms like Zoom or FaceTime when in-person appointments posed risks of coronavirus exposure. Insurers were forced — often for the first time — to reimburse for all sorts of virtual medical visits and generally at the same price as in-person consultations.

6 May 2021

What are the chief predictors of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children?

A new study seeks to explore the factors associated with the diagnosis in children. The ability to rapidly diagnose COVID-19 in this age group is essential not only for monitoring progressive disease in individual children, but to avert further transmission chains.

22 Mar 2021

Coronavirus deranges the immune system in complex and deadly ways

There's a reason soldiers go through basic training before heading into combat: Without careful instruction, green recruits armed with powerful weapons could be as dangerous to one another as to the enemy.

4 Mar 2021

Gene-cutting system may play second role as a genetic dimmer switch

In a series of experiments with laboratory-cultured bacteria, Johns Hopkins scientists have found evidence that there is a second role for the widely used gene-cutting system CRISPR-Cas9 -- as a genetic dimmer switch for CRISPR-Cas9 genes.

19 Jan 2021

Researchers identify new weapon to battle the rising tide of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

As scientists around the globe wage war against a novel, deadly virus, one University of Colorado Boulder lab is working on new weapons to battle a different microbial threat: a rising tide of antibiotic-resistant bacteria which, if left unchecked, could kill an estimated 10 million people annually by 2050.

23 Dec 2020

Interventions can successfully reduce the rate of inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions

Two different interventions both worked to significantly reduce the rate of inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions made by physicians in a telemedicine practice, a new study led by Children's National Hospital researchers shows.

27 Aug 2020

Study: Frequent use of antimicrobial drugs impairs bacterial diversity in saliva

The strongest associations were presented with azithromycin that is used for example to middle ear infections, strep throat and pneumonia.

24 Aug 2020

Why doctors keep monitoring kids who recover from mysterious COVID-linked illness

Israel Shippy doesn’t remember much about having COVID-19 — or the unusual auto-immune disease it triggered — other than being groggy and uncomfortable for a bunch of days. He’s a 5-year-old, and would much rather talk about cartoons, or the ideas for inventions that constantly pop into his head.

16 Jul 2020

Pediatric practices struggle to adapt and survive amid COVID-19

The silence was striking. On a normal day, the well-child waiting room at Berkeley Pediatrics bustles with children playing, infants crying and teenagers furiously tapping on their smartphones.

14 Apr 2020

What takes so long? A behind-the-scenes look at the steps involved in COVID-19 testing

After a slow start, testing for COVID-19 has ramped up in recent weeks, with giant commercial labs jumping into the effort, drive-up testing sites established in some places and new types of tests approved under emergency rules set by the Food and Drug Administration.

30 Mar 2020