Respiratory Tract Infection Diagnosis
Strep Throat, or No?
Cold Vs Flu?
flu
sudden onset of fever
headaches, aches, pain, exhausted, chest discomfort
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cold
leads to a large amount of lost productivity (40%?)
cytokines lead to symptoms
people using COld-FX
echinacea
- was on Canadian gov't formulary until 1947
- needs to have standardized trials and preparations
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Sample Acquisition
RTIs can be diagnosed through the collection of various specimens, including
- sputum (good representation of lower airways)
- bronchio-alveolar lavage
- naso-pharyngeal aspirates
- endotracheal aspirates
- sinus aspirates
- tympanocentesis
Viral RTIs can be diagnosed by
- clinical syndrome
- time of year
- local prevalence rates
- virus isolation
- antigen or antibody detection (not rhinovirus)
- molecular methods (ie PCR)