| Methods |
Double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial |
| Participants |
173 participants aged 5 to 50 years, from the Gent region of Belgium
Data were obtained from 173 participants on days 1 and 3
Data were obtained from 131 participants on days 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7
Participants excluded if they: produced a GABHS‐negative throat swab, had a sore throat for greater than 5 days, had a previous history of acute rheumatic fever, had an allergy to beta‐lactam antibiotics, had received any antibiotics within the past 14 days, were in any high‐risk situation as determined by the physician |
| Interventions |
Oral penicillin or oral placebo 3 times a day |
| Outcomes |
Symptom of sore throat
All data obtained, except from days 1 and 3, were self reported from a diary |
| Notes |
Antipyretics were used as required by participants. Use of antipyretics and other symptom‐relieving methods was documented in a diary |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
Randomisation method not documented |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Low risk |
|
| Blinding (performance bias and detection bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
Double‐blind study design |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
|
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Low risk |
All relevant outcomes reported |
