Group C β-Hemolytic Streptococci in College Students With Pharyngitis-Reply

Abstract

<h3>In Reply.—</h3> Dr Waters and Ms Cook raise some interesting points. When we began our study, we lacked a priori evi dence that respiratory illnesses, if any, caused by non-group A streptococci would be clinically similar to those caused by the more familiar group A organisms. We cast a broad net, therefore, and included all patients with the chief complaint of sore throat. Based on the clinical features of our patients with group C isolates, it now appears that many patients with sore throat associated with group C streptococci have similar clinical features to those with group A isolates. To determine whether our original control group reliably reflects the actual carriage rate of group C streptococci, we have subsequently studied two additional populations of healthy controls. We have found a virtually identical isolation rate (12%) of group C streptococci on throat culture in a total of 250 healthy students at