Etiology of sore throat by age

Cause	Infants and young children	Older children and adolescents
Viral pharyngitis*	Respiratory viruses Herpangina (enterovirus)* SARS-CoV-2	Epstein-Barr virus (infectious mononucleosis)* Respiratory viruses* HIV Herpangina (enterovirus) HSV SARS-CoV-2
Bacterial pharyngitis	Group A Streptococcus^¶ Fusobacterium necrophorum and other anaerobic bacteria (±Lemierre syndrome^Δ) Other bacteria^◊	Group A Streptococcus* Neisseria gonorrhoeae Fusobacterium necrophorum and other anaerobic bacteria (±Lemierre syndrome^Δ) Other bacteria^◊
Other infections	Retropharyngeal abscess^Δ Lateral pharyngeal abscess^Δ Epiglottitis^Δ	Peritonsillar abscess^Δ Retropharyngeal abscess^Δ Lateral pharyngeal abscess^Δ Epiglottitis^Δ
Miscellaneous conditions	Steven-Johnson syndrome Kawasaki disease Behçet syndrome PFAPA syndrome	Psychogenic pharyngitis Referred pain Steven-Johnson syndrome Kawasaki disease Behçet syndrome PFAPA syndrome
Traumatic injury	Foreign body Chemical exposure	Irritation of the mucosa*

HIV: human immunodeficiency virus; HSV: herpes simplex virus; SARS-CoV-2: severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2; PFAPA: periodic fever with aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and adenitis.

* Common causes of sore throat in children.

¶ Group A Streptococcus rarely causes pharyngitis in infants.

Δ Life-threatening causes of sore throat in children.

◊ Other bacteria that can cause acute pharyngitis include group C and G Streptococcus, Arcanobacterium hemolyticum, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Francisella tularensis, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Neisseria meningitidis.

Graphic 60174 Version 20.0

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Etiology of sore throat by age