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Health Dictionary

Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.

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Sore throat fever

Introduction

Synonyms and keywords: Fever and sore throat; sore throat fever; sore throat and fever; Sore throat fever

The most important differential diagnosis for disease that cause fever and sore throat at the same time are summarized in table below:
Disease/Variable Presentation Causes Imaging finding Treatment
Upper respiratory tract infection _ Symptomatic therapy:
Peritonsillar abscess[1][2][3][4][5][2][3][6][7][8][9] On ultrasound peritonsillar abscess appears as focal irregularly marginated hypoechoic area. Ampicillin-sulbactam, Clindamycin, Vancomycin or Linezolid
Croup Steeple sign on neck X-ray Dexamethasone and nebulised epinephrine
Epiglottitis[10][11] Thumbprint sign on neck x-ray Airway maintenance, parenteral Cefotaxime or Ceftriaxone in combination with Vancomycin. Adjuvant therapy includes corticosteroids and racemic Epinephrine.
Pharyngitis

streptococcus

_ Antimicrobial therapy mainly penicillin-based and analgesics.
Tonsilitis [12][13][14][15] Intraoral or transcutaneous USG may show an abscess making CT scan unnecessary. Primarily affects children

between 5 and 15 years old.

Diphtheria
  • Myocarditis
  • Sore throat
  • Malaise
  • Cervical lymphadenopathy,
  • Low-grade fever
  • Paryngitis with or without pseudomembrane
  • Systemic toxicity
  • Facial paralysis to total paralysis
  • C. diphtheriae
  • Rarely  Corynebacterium species
 X-ray: Diphtheria antitoxin

Antibiotics may help in disease prevention

References

  1. ↑ Galioto NJ (2008). “Peritonsillar abscess”. Am Fam Physician. 77 (2): 199–202. PMID 18246890.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lyon M, Blaivas M (2005). “Intraoral ultrasound in the diagnosis and treatment of suspected peritonsillar abscess in the emergency department”. Acad Emerg Med. 12 (1): 85–8. doi:10.1197/j.aem.2004.08.045. PMID 15635144.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Boesen T, Jensen F (1992). “Preoperative ultrasonographic verification of peritonsillar abscesses in patients with severe tonsillitis”. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 249 (3): 131–3. PMID 1642863.
  4. ↑ Bandarkar AN, Adeyiga AO, Fordham MT, Preciado D, Reilly BK (2016). “Tonsil ultrasound: technical approach and spectrum of pediatric peritonsillar infections”. Pediatr Radiol. 46 (7): 1059–67. doi:10.1007/s00247-015-3505-7. PMID 26637999.
  5. ↑ Scott PM, Loftus WK, Kew J, Ahuja A, Yue V, van Hasselt CA (1999). “Diagnosis of peritonsillar infections: a prospective study of ultrasound, computerized tomography and clinical diagnosis”. J Laryngol Otol. 113 (3): 229–32. PMID 10435129.
  6. ↑ Brook I (2004). “Microbiology and management of peritonsillar, retropharyngeal, and parapharyngeal abscesses”. J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 62 (12): 1545–50. PMID 15573356.
  7. ↑ Megalamani SB, Suria G, Manickam U, Balasubramanian D, Jothimahalingam S (2008). “Changing trends in bacteriology of peritonsillar abscess”. J Laryngol Otol. 122 (9): 928–30. doi:10.1017/S0022215107001144. PMID 18039418.
  8. ↑ Snow DG, Campbell JB, Morgan DW (1991). “The microbiology of peritonsillar sepsis”. J Laryngol Otol. 105 (7): 553–5. PMID 1875138.
  9. ↑ Matsuda A, Tanaka H, Kanaya T, Kamata K, Hasegawa M (2002). “Peritonsillar abscess: a study of 724 cases in Japan”. Ear Nose Throat J. 81 (6): 384–9. PMID 12092281.
  10. ↑ Wick F, Ballmer PE, Haller A (2002). “Acute epiglottis in adults”. Swiss Med Wkly. 132 (37–38): 541–7. PMID 12557859.
  11. ↑ Nickas BJ (2005). “A 60-year-old man with stridor, drooling, and “tripoding” following a nasal polypectomy”. J Emerg Nurs. 31 (3): 234–5, quiz 321. doi:10.1016/j.jen.2004.10.015. PMID 15983574.
  12. ↑ Nogan S, Jandali D, Cipolla M, DeSilva B (2015). “The use of ultrasound imaging in evaluation of peritonsillar infections”. Laryngoscope. 125 (11): 2604–7. doi:10.1002/lary.25313. PMID 25946659.
  13. ↑ Kawabata M, Umakoshi M, Makise T, Miyashita K, Harada M, Nagano H; et al. (2016). “Clinical classification of peritonsillar abscess based on CT and indications for immediate abscess tonsillectomy”. Auris Nasus Larynx. 43 (2): 182–6. doi:10.1016/j.anl.2015.09.014. PMID 26527518.
  14. ↑ Fordham MT, Rock AN, Bandarkar A, Preciado D, Levy M, Cohen J; et al. (2015). “Transcervical ultrasonography in the diagnosis of pediatric peritonsillar abscess”. Laryngoscope. 125 (12): 2799–804. doi:10.1002/lary.25354. PMID 25945805.
  15. ↑ Putto A (1987). “Febrile exudative tonsillitis: viral or streptococcal?”. Pediatrics. 80 (1): 6–12. PMID 3601520.

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1];Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Mahshid Mir, M.D. [2]