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Key facts

  • Around 90 per cent of sore throats that present in pharmacy will be caused by viral infection
  • If the sore throat has lasted for seven days or longer and shows no signs of settling, the patient should be referred
  • Clinical scoring systems such as FeverPAIN have some predictive value for infections more likely to benefit from antibiotic treatment
  • Examining a patient’s throat is a necessary part of using a clinical scoring system
  • Streptococcal (bacterial) throat infections are more likely in children of school age
  • Antibiotics need careful targeting and, even so, may have a limited effect on outcome (on average they reduce the duration of symptoms by about 16 hours) 
  • Self-care with OTC analgesics and medicated lozenges are the mainstay of management for sore throats