I am Dr. Bob Arnot. Strep throat is the common name for one kind of infection of the streptococcal bacteria. It is pretty common in young children especially in the spring on winter months but not nearly as common as you might think. In a survey of 80,000 visits to Minute Clinic, it turned out that only about 10% actually had a strep throat the rest had viral or other causes that can easily be treated with over-the-counter medications. Do you really need antibiotic? Here are the key symptoms and what to do about them.
So, how can you tell if you have strep throat? Well, there are few symptoms we always look for. The first one is a really sore throat, it will often be so sore that it is hard to swallow or drink a glass of water. Another one is if you look at the back of your throat and it is red and brown looking; you may even see some little white patches. Some other key symptoms include a high fever often above 101°, a bad headache, and a loss of appetite. We also ask if you are coughing because actually if you are it is usually a sign that it is not strep, if you think that it is strep you need to come in and get tested.
At minute clinic, we used something called the rapid strep test. If the test is positive that is when we will prescribe an antibiotic. You should give a big improvement within 24 hours but as with all antibiotics you will need to complete the full course of treatment. In addition to antibiotics, there are few other things you can do to help relieve your symptoms. You can take Tylenol or Advil for the pain. Suck on popsicles, lozenges, or hard candy, and one of the most effective things you can do is gargle with salt water. Do that three or four times every hour and it should make a big difference.
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