Streptococcal Infections (cont.)
Strep throat
Symptoms of strep throat
Your health care provider may call it acute streptococcal
pharyngitis. If you have strep
throat infection
, you will have a red and painful
sore throat and may
have white patches on your tonsils. You also may
have swollen lymph nodes in your neck, run a fever, and have a headache. Nausea,
vomiting, and abdominal pain can occur but are more common in children than in adults.
Transmission of strep throat
You can get strep throat and other group A strep
infections by direct contact with saliva or nasal discharge from an infected
person. Most people do not get group A strep infections from casual contact with
others, but a crowded environment like a dormitory, school, or an institutional setting such as a
nursing home can make
it easier for the bacteria to spread. There have also been reports of
contaminated food, especially milk and milk products, causing infection. You can
get sick within 3 days after being exposed to the germ. Once infected, you can
pass the infection to others for up to 2 to 3 weeks even if you don't have
symptoms. After 24 hours of antibiotic treatment, you will no
longer spread the germs to others.
Diagnosis of strep throat
Your health care provider will take a throat swab. This
will be used for a culture (a type of laboratory test) or a rapid strep test, which only takes 10
to 20 minutes. If the result of the rapid test is negative, you may get a
follow-up culture to confirm the results, which takes 24 to 48 hours. If the
culture test is also negative, your health care provider may suspect you do not
have strep, but rather another type of infection. The results of these throat
cultures will affect what your health care provider decides to be the best
treatment. Most sore throats are caused by viral infections, however, and
antibiotics are useless against them.
Treatment for strep throat
If you have a strep infection, your health care provider will prescribe an
antibiotic. This will help reduce symptoms, and after 24 hours of taking the
medicine, you will no longer be able to spread the infection to others.
Treatment will also reduce the chance of complications.
Health experts think penicillin is the best medicine for treating strep
throat because it has been proven to be effective, safe, and inexpensive. Your
health care provider may have you take pills for 10 days or give you a shot. If
you are allergic to penicillin there are other antibiotics your health care
provider can give you to clear up the illness.
During treatment, you may start to feel better within 4 days. This can happen
even without treatment. Still, it is very important to finish all your medicine
to prevent complications.
Children with strep throat are usually treated with
amoxicillin.
Complications of strep throat
Untreated group A strep infection can result in rheumatic fever and
post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (PSGN). Rheumatic fever develops about 18
days after a bout of strep throat and causes joint pain and heart disease. It can
be followed months later by Sydenham's chorea, a disorder where the muscles of
the torso and arms and legs are marked with dancing and jerky movements. PSGN is
an inflammation of the kidneys that may follow an untreated strep throat but
more often comes after a strep skin infection. Both disorders are rarely seen in
the United States because of prompt and effective treatment of most cases of
strep throat.
Next: Skin infections: Impetigo, Cellulitis, Erysipelas »
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- Rapid Strep Test - Learn about the rapid strep test used to quickly diagnose streptococcus infections. Symptoms of strep throat are similar to other conditions, and this quick test can easily rule out other causes of a sore throat.
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