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Peter E. Dans, MD

JAMA. 1986;256(24):3392-3393.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

The remarkable change in the natural history of group A β-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) pharyngitis and its sequelae is one of the great success stories of the 20th century.^1,2 Some physicians are now more willing to withhold cultures or defer treatment in patients with sore throat.^3,4 Others still prefer immediate treatment because it alters the course of GABHS pharyngitis,^5,6 even though in up to 50% or more of patients they treat, GABHS is not isolated. Whether to stop treatment, if cultures are negative, is also controversial depending on the weight assigned to the possibility of false-negative cultures as well as the risks and benefits of continued treatment.⁷ Thus, the management of sore throat, which appears so simple on its face, clearly illustrates Osler's dictum that medicine is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability.⁸

To help physicians better manage under uncertainty, a number of . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
The Johns Hopkins Hospital Baltimore

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