A throat swab is a medical test used to diagnose bacterial infections of the throat, such as strep throat. The test involves swabbing the back of the throat to obtain a tissue sample. Symptoms of strep throat include sore throat, painful swallowing, and swollen tonsils. The test can be done in a doctor’s office or medical clinic and results can be obtained in minutes with a rapid strep test or in a day or two with a more accurate throat culture. Treatment typically involves a ten-day course of antibiotics.
A throat swab is a type of outpatient medical diagnostic test in which a cotton swab is swiped across the inside of the throat near the tonsils to obtain a small tissue sample. This test is often used to diagnose whether or not a patient has been infected with a bacterial infection of the throat, typically streptococcal infection, more commonly known as strep throat. The throat swab test is also called a throat culture or strep culture.
Streptococcus is a fairly common disease, often spread in the winter months. It is easily transmitted from person to person through coughing, sneezing and sharing food or drink. The most common symptom of a sore throat is a sore or itchy throat. Other symptoms may include painful swallowing, bad breath, earache, headache, stomach pain, low-grade fever, swollen and painful tonsils and glands in the neck, red, white, or yellow patches in the throat or roof of the mouth, and a runny nose. The presence of these symptoms may prompt a healthcare professional to perform a throat swab to determine the best course of treatment.
To perform the test, the patient is asked to tilt their head back with their mouth wide open. A long cotton ball is then rubbed a few times on the back of the throat to obtain a sample. This often causes the patient to experience a gag reflex, and in some rare cases, this gag reflex can cause the patient to cough or vomit. The test is generally well tolerated and presents minimal risk to the patient.
Throat swab tests can be administered in a doctor’s office or medical clinic, and some pharmacies offer a type of throat swab known as a rapid strep test for quick diagnosis. The rapid strep test produces results in minutes, while a more accurate throat culture will produce results in a day or two. If the infection is found to be present in the throat, the patient will often be given a ten-day course of antibiotics to kill the bacteria and help prevent the infection from spreading to others. With medical treatment, the patient ceases to be contagious within 24 hours of starting the antibiotics, and the pain will last for one to three days. The patient must take the full course of antibiotics to completely clear the infection and prevent re-infection.
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