Patients at risk for group A Streptococcus (GAS) pharyngitis are those aged > 3 years who present with sore throat and a history of fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, tonsillopharyngeal inflammation, patchy tonsillopharyngeal exudates, palatal petechiae, and anterior cervical adenitis.
The presence of cough, coryza, diarrhea, hoarseness, rhinorrhea, discrete ulcerative lesions in the mouth, or symptoms lasting > 5 days argues against the need for diagnostic testing for GAS.
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