Antibiotic treatment of group A streptococcal pharyngitis can relieve symptoms, limit transmission of infection, and prevent suppurative and nonsuppurative sequelae. Clinical findings may be unreliable, however, in establishing the diagnosis, and conventional throat cultures take overnight or longer to produce results. Rapid office tests for streptococcal pharyngitis can make the diagnosis in about 10 minutes. Since the previous Medical Letter article on this subject (Medical Letter, 27:49, 1985), many new tests have been marketed, including some that use new technologies.

The CDC recently announced that it will now supply the investigational drug miltefosine (Impavido – Paladin, Canada) for treatment of infections caused by free-living amebae.1 The drug was previously available in the US only from the manufacturer through an FDA Investigational New Drug (IND) application.Meningoencephalitis caused by the free-living amebae Naegleria fowleri, Acanthamoeba spp., or Balamuthia mandrillaris, usually acquired through the nose while swimming in warm fresh water, has a mortality rate of >90% despite treatment with multiple antimicrobial drugs.2 Miltefosine is...

View the Table: Treatments Considered for COVID-19