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Sore throat - acute - Background information
Infectious causes
- Common infectious causes include [Bisno, 2005]:
- Rhinovirus, coronovirus, parainfluenza virus: the common cold (25% of sore throats).
- Influenza types A and B: influenza (4% of sore throats).
- Streptococcal infection: group A beta-haemolytic streptococcus (GABHS), also known as Streptococcus pyogenes, is the most common bacterial cause of sore throat and may cause pharyngitis, tonsillitis, or scarlet fever. Group C and G beta-haemolytic streptococci may cause pharyngitis and tonsillitis and have been associated with food-borne outbreaks of pharyngitis (GABHS causes 15–30% of sore throats in children, and 10% in adults).
- Adenovirus: pharyngoconjunctival fever (4% of sore throats).
- Herpes simplex virus type 1 (and more rarely type 2): acute herpetic pharyngitis (2% of sore throats).
- Epstein-Barr virus: infectious mononucleosis (glandular fever, < 1% of sore throats).
- Rare infectious causes (each < 1% of sore throats) include [Bisno, 2005]:
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