A common bacterial infection of the throat and tonsils, especially in children between the ages of 5 and 15, typically characterized by fever, sore throat, painful swallowing, exudates on the tonsils, and swollen anterior cervical lymph nodes. The disease is caused by infection with group A beta-hemolytic streptococci and may be treated with a variety of antibiotics, including penicillins and macrolides. It may occasionally produce late complications, including rheumatic fever or poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis.