{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,26]],"date-time":"2026-03-26T16:49:08Z","timestamp":1774543748745,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,26]],"date-time":"2026-03-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774483200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Vitrosens Biotechnology Inc."}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Group A Streptococcus (GAS) pharyngitis is a frequent cause of morbidity in pediatric populations, which requires timely identification to prevent complications such as acute rheumatic fever. Rapid antigen detection tests (RADTs) are practical alternatives to throat culture. This study evaluates the diagnostic performance of the RapidFor\u2122 Strep A test. Methods: This prospective clinical study enrolled 389 pediatric patients aged &lt; 18 years with symptoms suggestive of streptococcal pharyngitis. Two throat swabs were collected from each patient: one for rapid antigen testing with RapidFor\u2122 Strep A and one for culture. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated. Results: Throat culture was positive in 95 of 389 patients (24.4%). The RapidFor\u2122 Strep A test demonstrated a sensitivity of 98.95% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 94.28\u201399.81%) and a specificity of 96.26% (95% CI: 93.43\u201397.90%). The PPV was 89.52%, and the NPV was 99.65%. Agreement with culture was excellent (\u03ba = 0.919); in particular, false-positive results accounted for 2.8% and false-negative results accounted for 1.05%. Fever was the strongest clinical indicator associated with positive results. Conclusions: The RapidFor\u2122 Strep A test showed very high diagnostic accuracy compared with throat culture, including an excellent NPV (99.6%), which supports its reliability for ruling out GAS pharyngitis in pediatric settings. The test is an effective screening tool that facilitates timely antibiotic therapy.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children13040454","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,26]],"date-time":"2026-03-26T15:10:24Z","timestamp":1774537824000},"page":"454","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Comparative Evaluation of Strep A Throat Swab Culture Results Using the RapidFor\u2122 Strep A Rapid Test Kit"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4525-8764","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Belen","family":"Ates","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, University of Health Sciences, 34384 Istanbul, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Meryem Cansu","family":"Olt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ethics Committee, Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, University of Health Sciences, 34384 Istanbul, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alper","family":"Kacar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Emergency, Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, University of Health Sciences, 34384 Istanbul, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nazmiye","family":"Yeni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, University of Health Sciences, 34384 Istanbul, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4316-2491","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eren","family":"Guzeloglu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, University of Health Sciences, 34384 Istanbul, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cigdem","family":"Arabaci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Microbiology, Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, University of Health Sciences, 34384 Istanbul, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"264","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.00101-13","article-title":"Disease manifestations and pathogenic mechanisms of Group A Streptococcus","volume":"27","author":"Walker","year":"2014","journal-title":"Clin. 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