The objective was to determine if a single 60 mg/kg dose of azithromycin SR was as safe and effective as a 10-day regimen of amoxicillin (45 mg/kg/day, given in divided doses every 12 hours) when used to treat children with strep throat.

Inclusion Criteria:

Patients who had evidence of acute pharyngitis/tonsillitis based on erythematous pharyngeal mucosa or thick exudate covering the pharynx and tonsillar area, and at least one of the following signs or symptoms were included: sore/scratchy throat; pain on swallowing; chills and/or fever cervical adenopathy; scarlet fever rash on the face and skin folds, or red tongue with prominent papillae ("strawberry tongue"). Subjects were required to have a positive rapid antigen detection test (RADT) or a positive culture of the pharynx or tonsils for GABHS.

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients were excluded if they had previously diagnosed disease(s) of immune function or treatment with any systemic antibiotic within the previous 7 days.