Your son comes home from school complaining that he is ill. He tells you he thinks he has the flu—he has a sore throat, runny nose, and a cough, and his eyes are very red. Everyone in your family received a influenza vaccine about a month ago, and as the CDC reports that this year's vaccine is approximately 70% effective, you think it is unlikely that your son does in fact have this disease. In addition, your son does not seem to have muscle aches or a headache, which generally occur with flu. Nonetheless, he does look ill and when you take his temperature, you find that he has a fever of 38.9 o C. You take him to see his doctor, because you suspect that while your son likely does not have influenza, he also does not have a common cold.
-The doctor checks your son's throat and notes that he has has gray-white pus on the pharynx and tonsils. He also has enlarged lymph nodes in his neck. This suggests to the doctor that your son has the bacterial infection ________, which he attempts to confirm by ________.

Question

Your son comes home from school complaining that he is ill. He tells you he thinks he has the flu—he has a sore throat, runny nose, and a cough, and his eyes are very red. Everyone in your family received a influenza vaccine about a month ago, and as the CDC reports that this year's vaccine is approximately 70% effective, you think it is unlikely that your son does in fact have this disease. In addition, your son does not seem to have muscle aches or a headache, which generally occur with flu. Nonetheless, he does look ill and when you take his temperature, you find that he has a fever of 38.9 o C. You take him to see his doctor, because you suspect that while your son likely does not have influenza, he also does not have a common cold.
-The doctor checks your son's throat and notes that he has has gray-white pus on the pharynx and tonsils. He also has enlarged lymph nodes in his neck. This suggests to the doctor that your son has the bacterial infection ________, which he attempts to confirm by ________.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The presence of gray-white pus on the pharynx and tonsils and enlarged lymph nodes in the neck suggest a bacterial infection, most likely strep throat. The doctor would confirm this suspicion by performing a rapid antigen detection test (RADT) and a throat culture, which can detect the presence of the streptococcus bacteria responsible for causing strep throat. The other answer choices either do not match the symptoms described by the son or lack an appropriate diagnostic test.

Your Son Comes Home from School Complaining That He Is