At-home tool may predict who needs strep tests - study

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Plugging a few symptoms into an at-home tool may help people avoid unnecessary doctors' visits and tests for strep throat, suggests a new study. But the study's authors from Boston Children's Hospital found the tool could potentially prevent 230,000 trips to U.S. doctors' offices every year for suspected strep throat. "One thing that can be frustrating for families is if they come in with the expectation they'll be tested for something and they're not," Dr. Andrew Fine, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health. The new tool, he said, could help people realize their risk of strep throat is low and stop them from making an appointment with their doctors.



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