Antibiotic treatment of pharyngo-tonsillitis. Indications, therapeutic regimens

Yearly, nine millions of pharyngitis are diagnosed and treated in France, but only two millions are related to GABS, Ten days of orally administered penicillin is the standard recommanded treatment, based on its efficacy in the prevention of acute rheumatic fever. In many cases the apparent failure of penicillin therapy is not due to the decrease of its efficacy, but to the non-respect of the normal duration of therapy neither by the patients nor the practitioner. Numerous correct comparative trials have shown that some others ten days or less antibiotic regimens are as or more efficient as ten days oral penicillin. Substantial economies would be realised in treating only the GABS pharyngitis that would be possible by the generalised using of office fast diagnostic test. In these circumstances the short antibiotic regimens would be used with the aim of improving the observance of the patients, but the ecologic impact of these measures would be regulary monitored.