Clinical Newsletter Update

Back-to-school Clinical Update: Detecting Communicable  Childhood Infections

Supporting Order-with-Intent Testing During Peak Respiratory Illness Season

As children return to school, respiratory and pharyngeal infections quickly become one of the most common reasons for outpatient visits. While viral pathogens remain the leading cause of upper respiratory illness, differentiating viral syndromes from bacterial infections, particularly Group A Streptococcus (GAS), is essential to avoid unnecessary testing, antibiotic use, and missed diagnoses.

A pretest probability approach helps clinicians select the right test for the right patient at the right time, improving diagnostic yield while supporting appropriate specimen collection and result interpretation.