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Does A Throat Culture Show Presence Of Fungal Infection?

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Posted on Thu, 16 May 2013
Question: Does a throat culture show presence of fungal infection ?
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Answered by Dr. Ram Choudhary (2 hours later)
Hi XXXXXX,
Welcome to healthcare Magic!
The throat culture may show positive growth even when you do not have the infection because so many fungus species live in the mouth and throat naturally without causing the illness and other similar looking species may cause disease.
They uniformly cause disease when immunity is low or local condition of mouth is unhygienic or the patient is on prolonged antibiotics treatment.
By seeing local symptoms and local signs a doctor can identify whether you have the infection or not.
The fungal test on throat swab can be done in form of Fungal stain and culture as you have already done.
I hope the advise would be informative and useful for you.
Take Care!
Note: Consult an experienced Otolaryngologist / ENT Specialist online for further follow up on ear, nose, and throat issues - Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Ram Choudhary

Internal Medicine Specialist

Practicing since :2001

Answered : 2270 Questions

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Does A Throat Culture Show Presence Of Fungal Infection?

Hi XXXXXX,
Welcome to healthcare Magic!
The throat culture may show positive growth even when you do not have the infection because so many fungus species live in the mouth and throat naturally without causing the illness and other similar looking species may cause disease.
They uniformly cause disease when immunity is low or local condition of mouth is unhygienic or the patient is on prolonged antibiotics treatment.
By seeing local symptoms and local signs a doctor can identify whether you have the infection or not.
The fungal test on throat swab can be done in form of Fungal stain and culture as you have already done.
I hope the advise would be informative and useful for you.
Take Care!