Infectious Disease Scoring Tools

The Centor Score (modified McIsaac) estimates the probability of group A streptococcal pharyngitis using clinical criteria: tonsillar exudates, tender anterior cervical lymphadenopathy, fever history, and absence of cough. It guides decisions about testing and empiric antibiotic therapy.

Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) is defined by meeting ≥2 of four criteria: temperature >38°C or <36°C, heart rate >90, respiratory rate >20 or PaCO2 <32, and WBC >12,000 or <4,000. While SIRS has largely been replaced by qSOFA/SOFA for sepsis screening, it remains useful for identifying systemic inflammation.

CURB-65 helps determine the severity of community-acquired pneumonia and guides disposition decisions: outpatient treatment vs hospitalization vs ICU admission. It uses five criteria: Confusion, Urea >7 mmol/L, Respiratory rate ≥30, Blood pressure (systolic <90 or diastolic ≤60), and age ≥65.