Streptococcal pharyngitis: a review of pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management.

Pharyngitis is an illness frequently treated by emergency physicians and primary care practitioners. It is the subject of much controversy regarding optimal treatment in the acute care setting. This review discusses pertinent aspects of the pathophysiology, clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment based on available literature. This review is also meant to serve as a bibliographic resource for some of the controversies of this complex topic.