Talk:Strep throat

A record of some comments I made on Simple talk:

I have to say I'm not a great fan of this page as it stands, though I see it's got a GA on enWP. IMO it's not even close to that standard. Our version goes on too long, and in too much detail. As a result some things which are absolutely fundamental get left far too late. You need to say right early on why tests are done. The reasons are 1. The physician usually can't see what causes it just by looking, and 2. In fact, the symptoms are most often caused by viruses, not bacteria. Also, the intro should say clearly that most cases clear up in a few days with no treatment at all. It takes 24/48 hours to do a 'throat culture' (I've never seen the results come back in less than two days!).
The issue of uncontrolled prescribing of antibiotics leading to multiple resistance is extremely important. A generation of young doctors is learning why anitbiotics should not be prescribed unless clearly necessary, yet some medical articles like this blithely talk in language of a generation ago. What I'm saying is that simplification is not the only issue once one is in a technical area like this; and (once again) it is often unwise to import whole articles from enWP. Macdonald-ross (talk) 13:43, 10 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Am happy to try to address these concerns

Per the main page of simple Wikipedia "Simple does not mean short. Writing in Simple English means that simple words are used. It does not mean readers want basic information." Thus I do not understand the statement that this article is to long.
Per " The reasons are 1. The physician usually can't see what causes it just by looking" physicians in academic institutions frequently use the Modified Centor score to determine when culture is necessary and when it is not. As a significant portion of the population are asymtomatic carries of group A strep if we cultured everyone who walked in the door regardless of symptoms it would result in over treatment and thus potentially harm thus we do take symptoms into account.
Yes most sore throats are caused by viruses however those with 4 or 5 of the modified Centor criteria have a greater than 50% chance of having group A strep. Thus "2. In fact, the symptoms are most often caused by viruses, not bacteria." is not entirely true.
The clinical important issue is not that "most cases clear up in a few days with no treatment at all". The reason why we treat people with group A strep is to primarily to prevent rheumatic fever. I have added this point to the lead.
I am not sure what part of the article you find incorrect but would be happy to discuss if you come with recent review articles. Having spent 6 month replacing heart valves in Brasil and this has reinforced for me the fact that "strep throat" is not universally a benign disease. --Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 05:34, 12 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]