Abstract
Introduction: Acute pharyngitis (AP) is a very common respiratory infections in adults. It has a significant effect on the economy as it is responsible for an average of 6.5 days of absence from work. Locally AP is mostly treated with Antibiotics. it is considered to be one of leading cause of antibiotics prescription, with a rate of approximately 80%. However, the most common cause of pharyngitis are viral infections. Bacterial agents such as (Streptococcus pyogenes and group A beta-haemolytic streptococcus) are responsible for less than 30% of pharyngitis cases in children and less than 15% in adults. Generally, Antibiotics are overprescribed in cases of pharyngitis Aim of work: In this review, we will discuss the most recent evidence regarding the management and treatment of acute pharyngitis in adults. Methodology: We did a systematic search for Management of Acute Pharyngitis in Adults in the emergency department using PubMed search engine (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) and Google Scholar search engine (https://scholar.google.com). We only included full articles. Conclusions: The main objective of this review is to establish a guide for the management of AP in primary care units. the most common cause of AP is viral infections. Regarding bacterial infections, GABHS is believed to be the most important bacterial agent. Due to the absence of specific signs and symptoms of GABHS AP, the incidence of false positive diagnosis is high. And this leads to over prescribing of unnecessary antibiotics. Clinical evaluation scales allow the detection of high risk groups which will benefit of rapid diagnostic test. The community pharmacy, as a healthcare service, should manage AP by applying protocols in order to determine the patients who require pharmaceutical care and those requiring medical care.