Strep Throat

Strep throat is an infection caused by group A streptococcus bacteria, and it's very common among kids and teens. The symptoms of strep throat include hand washing - good hygiene can lessen your child's chances of getting contagious diseases like strep throat.

What's the Difference Between Strep Throat and a Sore Throat?

Not all sore throats are strep throats. Most episodes of sore throat - which can be accompanied by a runny nose, cough, hoarseness, and red eyes - are caused by viruses. Sore throats usually clear up on their own without requiring medical treatment.

If your child has strep throat, he or she will start to develop other symptoms within about 3 days. Those symptoms can include:

• red and white patches in the throat
• difficulty swallowing
• tender or swollen glands (lymph nodes) in the neck
• red and enlarged tonsils
• headache
• lower stomach pain
• fever
• general discomfort, uneasiness, or ill feeling
• loss of appetite and nausea
• rash

Diagnosing Strep Throat

If your child's throat is sore and he or she has other strep throat symptoms, it's a good idea to call your child's doctor. The doctor will likely do a rapid strep test in the office, using a cotton swab to take a sample of the fluids at the back of your child's throat. The test only takes about 5 minutes. If it's positive, your child has strep throat. If the test is negative, the doctor will send a sample to a lab for a throat culture. The results are usually available within a few days.

Treating Strep Throat

In most cases, doctors prescribe about 10 days of antibiotic medication to treat strep throat. Within about 24 hours after your child starts taking the antibiotics, his or her temperature will probably be back to normal, and your child will no longer be contagious. By the second or third day after taking antibiotics, the other symptoms should start to go away, too.

Even though your child may not feel sick at that point, it's very important that he or she finish the antibiotic prescription. If your child stops taking antibiotics too soon, bacteria can remain in the throat and the symptoms can return.

If your child is not treated for strep throat, he or she is most infectious when the symptoms are the most severe but could remain contagious for up to 21 days. Lack of treatment - or not finishing the prescribed course of antibiotics - also could put your child at risk for other health problems, such as rheumatic fever (which can cause permanent damage to the heart), kidney disease.

To prevent your sick child from spreading strep throat to others in your home, keep his or her eating utensils, dishes, and drinking glasses separate from those that everyone else is using. Wash them in hot, soapy water after each use. Also, make sure your child doesn't share food, drinks, napkins, handkerchiefs, or towels with other family members. Make sure your child covers his or her mouth and nose during a sneeze or a cough to prevent passing infectious fluid droplets to someone else. And it's a good idea to throw out your child's toothbrush after the antibiotic treatment has been started, and your child's sickness is no longer contagious.

Caring for Your Child With Strep Throat

There's plenty you can do to help your child feel better. To prevent Ellen Deutsch, MD
Date reviewed: March 2006