Strep Throat: What Parents Should Know

Strep Throat: What Parents Should Know

Strep throat is a bacterial infection caused by group A Streptococcus bacteria that primarily affects children ages 5 to 15. Unlike viral sore throats that often come with colds, strep throat requires antibiotic treatment. It's highly contagious and spreads through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or shares food and drinks.

Recognizing Strep Throat Symptoms

Classic strep throat symptoms appear suddenly and typically do not include the runny nose and cough you'd see with a cold. Key signs to watch for include: severe sore throat that starts suddenly, pain when swallowing, fever of 101°F or higher, swollen red tonsils (sometimes with white patches), tiny red spots on the roof of the mouth, swollen tender lymph nodes in the neck, headache, and stomach pain or nausea (especially in younger children).

Some children may develop a fine, sandpaper-like rash known as scarlet fever. Important: The absence of a cough or runny nose is actually a clue that your child might have strep rather than a viral infection.

How We Diagnose Strep Throat

When you bring your child to our office with possible strep symptoms, we use a rapid strep test that provides results in just minutes. This test involves gently swabbing the back of the throat. The rapid test is highly accurate when positive. If negative but we still suspect strep, we may send a throat culture to the lab (results in 24-48 hours).

It's important not to try to diagnose strep throat at home. Only a proper test can confirm strep, as viral sore throats can look very similar but won't respond to antibiotics.

Treatment That Works

When diagnosed with strep throat, your child will need antibiotics. The most commonly prescribed are penicillin or amoxicillin. Most children start feeling better within 24-48 hours of starting antibiotics. However, it's crucial to complete the full course of antibiotics (typically 10 days) even if your child feels better. Stopping early can lead to the infection returning or developing resistance.

Your child can usually return to school or childcare 24 hours after starting antibiotics and once they no longer have a fever without medication.

Managing Symptoms at Home

While antibiotics treat the infection, help your child feel more comfortable by offering plenty of fluids (warm liquids like broth or cool treats like popsicles), using a cool-mist humidifier, giving age-appropriate doses of acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain and fever, encouraging rest, offering soft foods (yogurt, applesauce, mashed potatoes), and for children over age 4, throat lozenges may provide relief. Never give aspirin to children.

Preventing Strep Throat Spread

Keep your sick child's eating utensils and drinking glasses separate, wash hands frequently, replace your child's toothbrush after 24 hours of antibiotic treatment, teach children to cover coughs and sneezes with their elbow, and keep your sick child home until they've been on antibiotics for at least 24 hours.

Serious Complications to Prevent

Untreated or inadequately treated strep can lead to serious complications including rheumatic fever (affecting the heart, joints, brain, and skin), post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (kidney inflammation), abscesses around the tonsils, ear infections, and sinus infections. These complications are uncommon when strep throat is properly treated with antibiotics.

When to Seek Immediate Care

If your child in Robbinsville or the surrounding areas experiences difficulty breathing or swallowing, excessive drooling, severe dehydration signs, high fever that doesn't respond to medication, stiff neck or severe headache, seizures, or unusual sleepiness or confusion, contact our office immediately or seek emergency care.

Is It Strep or Something Else

Likely Strep: Sudden onset, fever, severe throat pain, no cough, swollen glands, age 5-15. Likely Viral: Gradual onset, runny nose, cough, lower fever, typically improves in 5-7 days. Likely Allergies: Clear runny nose, itchy eyes, no fever, throat irritation rather than severe pain.