WASHINGTON — The holiday season is also peak season for sore throats.
“Children and adults are coming in with lots of sore throats and upper respiratory infections, says Dr. Jerome Schwartz, a Washington-area ear, nose and throat specialist.
A typical garden-variety sore throat is often linked to a cold. But it can also be the result of allergies, dry air, even acid reflux.
Strep throat is very different and far more intense. There are usually no cold symptoms, like with a runny nose or a cough. Schwartz says, “We tend to see higher fevers; we tend to see swollen lymph nodes in the neck, for instance, that can really suggest that this might be more than a simple cold.”
When these telltale signs appear, it is best to get tested for strep at a doctor’s office. It is a simple, painless procedure that involves using a small swab along the back of the throat. Results, which used to take a day or two, are now available in a matter of minutes.
And that’s important because strep is a bacterial infection, and the sooner treatment with antibiotics can begin, the better.
“Antibiotics have been shown to reduce the degree of transmission from person to person as well as to reduce the duration of the symptoms,” Schwartz says.
Children are especially susceptible to strep, in large part because they spend so much time in close quarters with other kids at school and at play.
It is also easily spread at home to siblings. But Schwartz says that once a patient begins treatment, “within 24 hours of starting antibiotics, the likelihood of transmission is relatively minimal.”
He says once a child starts complaining of a sore throat, be on the lookout for the signs of strep. In addition to fever and swelling in the neck, kids can sometimes experience things like fatigue, headache, and even an upset stomach.
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