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Key Facts
- Strep throat spreads easily when someone with it breathes, coughs, or sneezes near you.
- If you have a severe sore throat and a fever over 100.4°F or 38°C, make an appointment with your health care provider to have a throat culture.
- You can return to school and work after you have no fever and have been on antibiotics for at least 24 hours.
“Strep throat” is a sore throat that is caused by Group A Streptococcus bacteria. It’s the most common bacterial infection of the throat, and the words “Strep Throat” (or “strep”) come from the name of the bacteria.
How does someone get strep throat?
“Strep” bacteria are contagious, and they spread through person-to-person contact with infected sputum or saliva.
You can get strep by:
- Breathing in the same air after someone (who has it) coughs, breaths, or sneezes near you in a confined place Sharing food/drinks, shaking hands with, or kissing someone who has strep
- You can also pick up the bacteria by touching an object (such as a doorknob) after it has been contaminated by someone who has strep and then touching your mouth or nose
What are the symptoms of strep throat?
The most common symptoms of strep throat include:
- Sore throat
- Fever of 100.4°F or 38°C or higher
- Trouble swallowing
- Swollen, red tonsils (the tonsils may also have white patches)
- Sore swollen glands (lymph nodes in your neck)
- Headache
- Fatigue (feeling very tired)
Less common symptoms include: skin rash, body aches, not feeling hungry, stomach ache, and throwing up. Having a runny nose or cold symptoms makes it unlikely you have strep throat.
If you have any of these symptoms or you’ve been close to someone with strep throat, it’s important to see your health care provider so he/she can test to see if you have strep.
Some of the symptoms of strep throat are similar to those of another type of sore throat caused by viruses. However, a Group A strep infection is more serious and requires a visit to your health care provider, a rapid strep test and/or throat culture, and antibiotics.
How can my primary care provider (PCP) tell if I have strep throat?
First, your PCP will look for signs and symptoms of strep throat, sore throat, swollen glands, and no runny nose, hoarseness, or cold symptoms. He/she will likely ask you to open your mouth as wide as you can (and say “ahh”), then may use a tongue depressor (an instrument that looks like a popsicle stick and is used to push your tongue down) to get a good look at your throat and your tonsils. Your PCP will feel your neck to check for tender swollen lymph nodes and may take your temperature to see if you have a fever.
Throat culture – Your PCP will also gently rub a sterile cotton swab over the back of your throat and tonsils. This doesn’t take long and isn’t painful, but it may cause you to gag for a second. The purpose of the swab is to get a sample that will be tested for strep bacteria.
After swabbing your throat, your PCP will do a rapid strep test. This test can detect strep bacteria within minutes. If the test is positive, your PCP will prescribe treatment right away. If the test is negative, a sample will be sent to a lab for more testing, because rapid strep tests may miss some strep infections.
What is the treatment for strep throat?
If you’ve tested positive for strep throat, your PCP will give you a prescription for antibiotics (usually penicillin or amoxicillin, unless you’re allergic). The medicine will help lessen your symptoms and lower the chance of any complications. You can return to school and work after you have no fever and have been on the medicine for 24 hours.
Even though you will start feeling better within a day or two of starting the antibiotics, it’s extremely important that you take ALL of the medicine your PCP prescribed for you. If you stop taking the medicine early, the strep could come back. If you aren’t getting better after taking antibiotics for 48 hours, you should contact your PCP.
Other things you can do to feel better when you have strep throat include:
- Drink lots of fluids – cool liquids such as water and ginger ale can help. Sucking on an ice pop and drinking warm liquid such as soup and decaffeinated tea are good too.
- Rest – take naps and go to bed early
- Gargle with salt-water but don’t swallow
- Try throat lozenges
- Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Ask your primary care provider how much you should take.
Is there anything I can do to prevent getting strep throat?
Yes. Avoid being around anyone who has strep. If you’re living with someone who has a strep infection, wash your hands often, and don’t share drinking glasses, eating utensils, or toothbrushes.
It’s also important to prevent re-infecting yourself. If you have strep, make sure to get a new toothbrush. Buy a new toothbrush (throw the old one away) when you have been on antibiotics for 2-3 days to lower your chance of getting re-infected. Otherwise it’s possible for the bacteria to live in the toothbrush and make you sick again once you’ve finished your medicine.
Tags: sore throat, strep
Perhaps one of the most universal signs of affection, kissing exists in nearly every culture. The act of kissing can range from a quick peck to a long, intimate smooch. Kissing on the lips, though, is usually reserved for more intimate relationships — and it’s no wonder why. An intimate 10-second kiss can transfer over 80 million bacteria. Though this might help some long-term couples by diversifying their oral bacteria (and thus boosting their resistance to other microorganisms), exchanging saliva can often transfer illnesses. Unfortunately, no one is exempt from the disease-spreading dangers of kissing. Though people in long-term relationships may fare slightly better, anyone can get sick this way. HealthGrove used data from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control to find nine diseases that are transmitted through saliva. With Valentine’s Day coming up, you might want to be careful who you kiss. 9. Mononucleosis: This disease, usually caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), spreads through saliva and is often referred to as “mono” or “the kissing disease.” Symptoms are very similar to those of the flu and include a fever, sore throat, fatigue, muscle weakness and swollen lymph glands. The infection and related symptoms usually last anywhere from one to two months. Young people between the ages of 15 and 30 and those who regularly come into contact with a lot of people are the most at risk. While no treatment for mononucleosis exists, resting, staying hydrated and taking over-the-counter pain medications often help. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a virus in the herpes family. This disease spreads through saliva, as well as through blood, urine, semen and breast milk. Like all herpes viruses, CMV can remain dormant in the body for long periods of time, especially if you’re healthy. Though this virus can infect almost anyone, symptoms usually appear in those with compromised immune systems. Symptoms can include fatigue, fever, muscle aches and, in more serious cases, pneumonia, encephalitis, seizures and visual impairment. While there’s no cure for CMV, treatment for the virus generally isn’t needed in healthy children and adults. 6. Herpes: Oral herpes is most commonly referred to as “cold sores” or “fever blisters.” It’s transmitted through direct contact between an infected area and broken skin or a mucous membrane. More than 50 percent of the U.S. adult population has oral herpes, but symptoms aren’t always visible.
Unfortunately, once you contract the virus, it stays with you forever. Additionally, oral herpes, caused by the herpes simplex type 1 strain, can cause genital herpes. Experts estimate that over 20 percent of new genital herpes cases are caused by herpes simplex type 1 transmitted through oral sex.
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Symptoms include fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea and vomiting. Though there are no medications for viral meningitis, people with healthy immune systems usually get better on their own.
Mumps is a viral infection that affects the salivary glands, causing them to swell. It usually spreads via airborne droplets from the nose or throat of an infected person. Easily preventable by vaccine, this disease is no longer as common as it once was, though outbreaks in unvaccinated groups still sporadically occur.
Symptoms typically include fever, headache, muscle aches, fatigue and loss of appetite. Recovering from mumps takes about two weeks, and treatment usually focuses on relieving the symptoms.
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1. Influenza:
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This article was contributed to KSAT.com by Sabrina Perry, Associated Editor at Graphiq, Inc.
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