Hoarseness and Palatal Petechiae as Clues in Identifying Streptococcal Throat Infections

An attempt was made to establish a relationship between the presence of hoarseness and palatal petechiae and the results of throat cultures performed on children with acute throat infections. A total of 1,307 throat cultures were performed and the results were compared to the presence or absence of these two factors. It is concluded that, if a physician uses either of these two clinical "clues" to distinguish between streptococcal and non-streptococcal throat infections, he will be wrong one quarter of the time. The use of inexpensive office techniques for throat cultures is encouraged.