Acute pericarditis, or inflammation of the pericardial sac, is a clinical condition which can often be attributed to variety underlying etiologies, including infection, autoimmune disease, trauma, and malignancy. While viral infections are commonly implicated in etiology bacteria known associated with pericarditis include staphylococcus species, streptococcal tuberculosis, children, Haemophilus...

The Ventrescreen (Ventrex) rapid enzyme immunoassay test for detecting group A streptococcal antigen directly from a throat swab was compared with conventional blood agar throat culture in the diagnosis of beta haemolytic streptococcal infection among 311 patients with a sore throat attending a large suburban Jerusalem primary care clinic. Using the throat culture as the 'gold standard' the Ven...

The prevention of the first attack of RF requires antibiotic treatment of suspected or proven streptococcal throat infection or tonsillitis in children between the ages of 3 and 15 years. In communities where RF is endemic, all cases of sore throat in children 3 15 years of age should be regarded as a streptococcal infection and be treated as such unless any one of the following clinical charac...

BACKGROUND IgA nephropathy (IgAN), the most common glomerulonephritis worldwide, is characterized by mesangial deposits containing predominantly IgA. IgAN commonly occurs or exacerbates after upper respiratory tract infections such as streptococcal pharyngitis. Certain group A streptococci express M proteins with IgA-binding regions (IgA-BRs). We have previously shown that these IgA-BRs co-loca...

In the preceding article (1) evidence was presented which would not support the conception of a specific etiological relationship between respiratory infections and rheumatic fever in children. The designation, " streptococcal " respiratory infection, based solely on bacteriological findings, was questioned. During these observations as to the relation between respiratory infections and rheumat...