Strep Throat in Children
Strep throat is a bacterial infection caused by Group A Streptococcus (GAS) that causes throat infection, tonsilitis or and could cause a simple infection that can be easily treated to sometimes serious life threatining issues causing damage to the heart, kidneys and even brain. Talk to your doctor immediately if you suspect your child has a strep throat.
Strep Throat Causes
Straptococcus Pyogenes bacteria causes strep throat, it is very contagious and spreads from person to person through saliva droplets and mucus through sneezing, coughing, laughing, sharing things, through air, touching surfaces and likes.
Strep Throat Symptoms
Strep throat may start suddenly and quickly escalates in to a painful sore throat and fever with high temperature usually on day two. Some of the common symptoms include:
Sore throat that is very painful and difficult to swallow
White spots on the back of tongue, throat and tonsils
Red painful tongue
Scarlet Fever - Red rash/es that feels rough like sand paper
Loss of appetite, may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting
High fever with chills
Headches, Irritability
Pain in the abdomin
In rare cases when strep throat is left untreated it could cause Rheumatic fever - damaging the heart, joint pains and other complications
Strep throat usually never causes a cough, runny nose or watery eyes, these symptoms are more common with cold / flu caused by viruses.
Strep Throat Diagnosis
The doctor after doing a thorough physical exam of your child may suspect strep throat based on the symptoms and ask for one of the 2 tests:
Rapid Strep Test - a swab from the back of your childs throat is tested and you get the results almost immediately in about 15 - 30 mins. Based on the result your child's doctor may prescribe a full course of antibiotics.
Throat Culture - This is more accurate than rapid test as rapid test could sometimes show false negative so your doctor may ask for throat culture or in case he suspects strep inspite of rapid test showing negative. It takes aboout 1-3 days to get the results.
Strep Throat Treatment
If your child tests positive for strep, the doctor will prescribe a full course of antibiotics, usually Penecillin or Amoxicillin to cure the bacterial infection. Do not stop giving the antibiotic when your child feels better as its extremely important to complete the course.
Your child should start to feel better within a day or two and can return to school after 24 hours of starting the antibiotic without any fever.
Antiobiotics could cause diahorhea or a rash as a side effect, probiotics can help. Talk to your doctor.
Things That You Can Do To Help
There are a few things that you can do at home to help your child feel better and also prevent the infection from spreading to others in the house.
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap every time you care for your child.
Use a mask and avoid sharing food, cups, utensils and bed if your child is comfortable sleeping alone.
Offer plenty of warm fluids to soothe the throat, you can offer honey if child is older than 1, age appropriate lozenges and throat sprays. Medication to help with fever as prescribed by your doctor.
If child is older, salt water gargling is a great option to help with throat pain and other throat symptoms
Give soft foods that dont need a lot of chewing and are easy to swallow.
In rare cases untreated strep can lead to Scarlet Fever or Rheumatic Fever that could cause serious damage to the heart, kidneys and other parts of the body. Timely diagnosis and treatment is very important, if in doubt its better to get your child checked by the doctor to rule out Strep Throat.