Complaining of Painful swallowing

Jason, a 13 year old male comes in with Mom complaining of painful swallowing. Started yesterday as a “really bad sore throat” made worse with swallowing. He reports feeling very tired. His Mom gave him over-the-counter Children’s Motrin which made his fever better but did not help sore throat. He reports his symptoms are especially, worse during nighttime.

His tonsils are 2+ and erythematous, tonsil stones are present on the right side. He has white patches on his tongue.

Provide evidence from the literature to support diagnostic tests that would be appropriate for each case. List five different possible conditions for the patient’s differential diagnosis and justify why you selected each.