Evaluation of acute pharyngitis in adults - UpToDate

Acute pharyngitis is one of the most common conditions encountered in outpatient clinical practice. Most cases of acute pharyngitis are caused by respiratory viruses and are self-limited. However, symptoms of viral pharyngitis broadly overlap with pharyngitis caused by important treatable causes, such as group A Streptococcus (GAS) (figure 1). Using a systematic approach to diagnosis can help reduce inappropriate antibiotic use by identifying which patients require testing and treatment for GAS and can also help determine which patients have serious conditions, such as acute human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, highly contagious infection such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), or life-threatening complications of infection, such as airway obstruction. The epidemiology, clinical features, and evaluation of acute pharyngitis in adults are reviewed here. The treatment of streptococcal pharyngitis and the symptomatic management of pharyngitis are discussed separately. (See "

Acute pharyngitis is one of the most common conditions encountered in outpatient clinical practice. Most cases of acute pharyngitis are caused by respiratory viruses and are self-limited. However, symptoms of viral pharyngitis broadly overlap with pharyngitis caused by important treatable causes, such as group A Streptococcus (GAS) (figure 1). Using a systematic approach to diagnosis can help reduce inappropriate antibiotic use by identifying which patients require testing and treatment for GAS and can also help determine which patients have serious conditions, such as acute human immunodefici