Treatment for strep throat starts with distinguishing between the viral tonsillitis and this is not easily determined without a swab test.
When most people think of strep throat, they seem to think it is some terrible disease and totally different from tonsillitis. In fact strep throat is very similar to viral tonsillitis.
Strep is short for streptococcal and it is a bacteria. Streptococcal bacteria normally live in the gastrointestinal tract, on the skin and in the ears, mouth, and nose. If the person is healthy, they don't cause any trouble. If your body's immune system is weak or weakened by a viral infection, the strep may cause an infection. Examples of infections caused by streptococcal bacteria are strep throat, cellulitis, pneumonia and impetigo (indian fire).
The symptoms of strep throat are:
-sore throat
-swollen tonsils
-fever
-headache
-possibly nausea and/or vomiting
-possibly stomach cramps or pains
-you may or may not notice a foul odor from the mouth and throat, indicating tonsillitis
In early days, before antibiotics, strep infections could lead to complications like rheumatic fever, which can damage the heart and kidneys. Today, early testing for strep and use of antibiotic therapy have virtually eliminate rheumatic fever. Other complications of strep throat include: scarlet fever, meningitis, endocarditis, osteomylitis (infection in a bone) and septicemia (blood poisoning). Some of these can be fatal. With proper treatment, these complications are rare.
To distinguish between tonsillitis and strep throat, the doctor will probably swab the back of the throat. This procedure is a little scary for children, but painless. It entails touching the back of the throat with a long q-tip. It usually triggers the gag reflex and sometimes(seldomly), a child will want to vomit afterward. Before it took 24 hours for a strep culture to be complete. Now there is a 10 minute test that can tell if it is strep so the doctor knows how to treat it. The culture takes longer, but is more accurate.
The treatment of choice is taking oral antibiotics for 10 whole days. Taking antibiotics for 10 days will generally guarantee to cure the strep throat and prevent complications listed above. If the culture or throat swab is negative and it is determined the tonsillitis is due to a viral infection, usually no antibiotics are given because antibiotics are not effective against viral infections. Viral infections run their course and then die because they have a limited and short lived life span. Sometimes a doctor will give antiobiotics anyway, but they are doing so prophylactically, or preventatively to prevent complications of bacterial infections such as rheumatic fever, etc.
An important note: when antibiotics are prescribed for ten day, ALWAYS take the entire amount prescribed for the whole ten day. As a general rule, ALWAYS take all of the antibiotics a doctor gives you. NEVER stop taking them just because you feel better or feel five or seven days is enough. This can cause the infection to not be completely killed and it can also cause the bacteria to become resistant to the antibiotic, making the infection stronger in your body, so it will be harder to kill. Rare, but extremely serious complications can occur from this.
