Strep throat – Symptoms & causes

Overview

Strep throat is a bacterial infection that can make your throat feel sore and scratchy. Strep throat accounts for only a small portion of sore throats.

If untreated, strep throat can cause complications, such as kidney inflammation or rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever can lead to painful and inflamed joints, a specific type of rash, or heart valve damage.

Strep throat is most common in children, but it affects people of all ages. If you or your child has signs or symptoms of strep throat, see your doctor for prompt testing and treatment.

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Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of strep throat can include:

• Throat pain that usually comes on quickly
• Painful swallowing
• Red and swollen tonsils, sometimes with white patches or streaks of pus
• Tiny red spots on the area at the back of the roof of the mouth (soft or hard palate)
• Swollen, tender lymph nodes in your neck
• Fever
• Headache
• Rash
• Nausea or vomiting, especially in younger children
• Body aches

Strep throat infection

Strep throat usually causes throat pain and difficulty swallowing. This photo of strep throat shows inflammation and red spots, caused by the infection.

It’s possible for you or your child to have many of these signs and symptoms but not have strep throat. The cause of these signs and symptoms could be a viral infection or some other illness. That’s why your doctor generally tests specifically for strep throat.

It’s also possible for you to be exposed to a person who carries strep but shows no symptoms.

When to see a doctor

Call your doctor if you or your child has any of these signs and symptoms:

• A sore throat accompanied by tender, swollen lymph glands
• A sore throat that lasts longer than 48 hours
• A fever
• A sore throat accompanied by a rash
• Problems breathing or swallowing
• If strep has been diagnosed, a lack of improvement after taking antibiotics for 48 hours

Causes

Strep throat is caused by infection with a bacterium known as Streptococcus pyogenes, also called group A streptococcus.

Streptococcal bacteria are contagious. They can spread through droplets when someone with the infection coughs or sneezes, or through shared food or drinks. You can also pick up the bacteria from a doorknob or other surface and transfer them to your nose, mouth or eyes.

Risk factors

Several factors can increase your risk of strep throat infection:

• Young age. Strep throat occurs most commonly in children.
• Time of year. Although strep throat can occur anytime, it tends to circulate in winter and early spring. Strep bacteria flourish wherever groups of people are in close contact.

Complications

Strep throat can lead to serious complications. Antibiotic treatment reduces the risk.

Spread of infection

Strep bacteria may spread, causing infection in:

• Tonsils
• Sinuses
• Skin
• Blood
• Middle ear

Inflammatory reactions

Strep infection may lead to inflammatory illnesses, including:

• Scarlet fever, a streptococcal infection characterized by a prominent rash
• Inflammation of the kidney (poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis)
• Rheumatic fever, a serious inflammatory condition that can affect the heart, joints, nervous system and skin
• Poststreptococcal reactive arthritis, a condition that causes inflammation of the joints

A possible relationship has been suggested between strep infection and a rare condition called pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with group A streptococci (PANDAS). Children with this condition experience worsened symptoms of neuropsychiatric conditions, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or tic disorders, with strep. This relationship currently remains unproved and controversial.

Prevention

To prevent strep infection:

• Wash your hands. Proper hand-washing is the best way to prevent all kinds of infections. That’s why it’s important to wash your own hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Teach your children how to wash their hands properly using soap and water or to use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if there is no soap and water available.
• Cover your mouth. Teach your children to cover their mouths with an elbow or tissue when they cough or sneeze.
• Don’t share personal items. Don’t share drinking glasses or eating utensils. Wash dishes in hot, soapy water or in a dishwasher.

Strep throat – Symptoms & causes

Overview

Strep throat is a bacterial infection that can make your throat feel sore and scratchy. Strep throat accounts for only a small portion of sore throats.

If untreated, strep throat can cause complications, such as kidney inflammation or rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever can lead to painful and inflamed joints, a specific type of rash, or heart valve damage.

Strep throat is most common in children, but it affects people of all ages. If you or your child has signs or symptoms of strep throat, see your doctor for prompt testing and treatment.

Products & Services

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of strep throat can include:

• Throat pain that usually comes on quickly
• Painful swallowing
• Red and swollen tonsils, sometimes with white patches or streaks of pus
• Tiny red spots on the area at the back of the roof of the mouth (soft or hard palate)
• Swollen, tender lymph nodes in your neck
• Fever
• Headache
• Rash
• Nausea or vomiting, especially in younger children
• Body aches

Strep throat infection

Strep throat usually causes throat pain and difficulty swallowing. This photo of strep throat shows inflammation and red spots, caused by the infection.

It’s possible for you or your child to have many of these signs and symptoms but not have strep throat. The cause of these signs and symptoms could be a viral infection or some other illness. That’s why your doctor generally tests specifically for strep throat.

It’s also possible for you to be exposed to a person who carries strep but shows no symptoms.

When to see a doctor

Call your doctor if you or your child has any of these signs and symptoms:

• A sore throat accompanied by tender, swollen lymph glands
• A sore throat that lasts longer than 48 hours
• A fever
• A sore throat accompanied by a rash
• Problems breathing or swallowing
• If strep has been diagnosed, a lack of improvement after taking antibiotics for 48 hours

Causes

Strep throat is caused by infection with a bacterium known as Streptococcus pyogenes, also called group A streptococcus.

Streptococcal bacteria are contagious. They can spread through droplets when someone with the infection coughs or sneezes, or through shared food or drinks. You can also pick up the bacteria from a doorknob or other surface and transfer them to your nose, mouth or eyes.

Risk factors

Several factors can increase your risk of strep throat infection:

• Young age. Strep throat occurs most commonly in children.
• Time of year. Although strep throat can occur anytime, it tends to circulate in winter and early spring. Strep bacteria flourish wherever groups of people are in close contact.

Complications

Strep throat can lead to serious complications. Antibiotic treatment reduces the risk.

Spread of infection

Strep bacteria may spread, causing infection in:

• Tonsils
• Sinuses
• Skin
• Blood
• Middle ear

Inflammatory reactions

Strep infection may lead to inflammatory illnesses, including:

• Scarlet fever, a streptococcal infection characterized by a prominent rash
• Inflammation of the kidney (poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis)
• Rheumatic fever, a serious inflammatory condition that can affect the heart, joints, nervous system and skin
• Poststreptococcal reactive arthritis, a condition that causes inflammation of the joints

A possible relationship has been suggested between strep infection and a rare condition called pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with group A streptococci (PANDAS). Children with this condition experience worsened symptoms of neuropsychiatric conditions, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or tic disorders, with strep. This relationship currently remains unproved and controversial.

Prevention

To prevent strep infection:

• Wash your hands. Proper hand-washing is the best way to prevent all kinds of infections. That’s why it’s important to wash your own hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Teach your children how to wash their hands properly using soap and water or to use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if there is no soap and water available.
• Cover your mouth. Teach your children to cover their mouths with an elbow or tissue when they cough or sneeze.
• Don’t share personal items. Don’t share drinking glasses or eating utensils. Wash dishes in hot, soapy water or in a dishwasher.

Follicular angina – symptoms, signs, causes and treatment in adults in the “SM-Clinic”

This disease is treated by an Otolaryngologist (ENT)

• What is it?
• Classification
• Symptoms of follicular sore throat
• Causes of follicular angina
• Diagnostics
• Expert opinion
• Treatment
• Prevention of follicular angina
• Rehabilitation
• FAQ
• Sources

Classification

Follicular angina may be acute or chronic. In addition, this form is included in the classical classification of angina, which divides the pathology into catarrhal, follicular, lacunar, fibrinous, herpetic, phlegmonous, gangrenous and mixed.

Symptoms of follicular angina

Follicular angina is characterized by a vivid clinical picture, its signs can be:

• intense sore throat – sometimes it hurts not only to speak, but even to swallow and breathe; pain may radiate to the ear, temple;
• elevated to febrile values ​​(38-39°C) body temperature, accompanied by chills;
• headache;
• general weakness, fatigue, weakness;
• muscle pain, aching joints and other symptoms of intoxication.

Lymph nodes are often enlarged to such a size that the patient feels them, it hurts to turn his head to the side, and painful lumps are felt on the neck. There is an unpleasant taste and smell in the mouth.

Causes of follicular tonsillitis

Follicular tonsillitis is an infectious disease, and the most common way of its transmission is airborne. In the vast majority of cases, the causative agent is β-hemolytic streptococcus, rarely other microorganisms (staphylococci, pneumococci, other types of streptococci, viruses).

There are factors that increase the risk of developing tonsillitis:

• severe hypothermia;
• low general immunity;
• autoimmune diseases;
• diabetes mellitus;
• severe stress;
• foci of chronic infection in adjacent organs (paranasal sinuses, teeth).

Under the influence of these factors, the risk of developing follicular angina in adults and children increases significantly.

Get advice

If you experience these symptoms, we recommend that you make an appointment with your doctor. Timely consultation will prevent negative consequences for your health.

You can find out more about the disease, prices for treatment and sign up for a consultation with a specialist by phone:

+7 (495) 292-39-72

Request a call back
Book online

Why SM-Clinic?

1

Treatment is carried out in accordance with clinical guidelines

2

Comprehensive assessment of the nature of the disease and treatment prognosis

3

Modern diagnostic equipment and own laboratory

4

High level of service and balanced pricing policy

Diagnosis

At the initial stage of the consultation, the doctor will talk with the patient – collect complaints and anamnesis (history) of the disease. Then the doctor will perform a pharyngoscopy – examine the oral cavity and pharynx, assessing the condition, including the tonsils. During the examination, the otolaryngologist uses equipment with lighting, which gives him the opportunity to detect even the slightest signs of ill health of the organs being examined.

On examination, the ENT will see that the tonsils are swollen, enlarged, bright red in color, and their entire surface is covered with small yellowish-greenish vesicles – these are festering follicles.

Conducting an objective examination, the doctor will identify enlarged submandibular, anterior cervical lymph nodes.

If follicular tonsillitis is suspected, the patient will undergo a general blood test, as well as a bacteriological culture of a swab from the tonsils. This will help identify a specific pathogen, find out the degree of its sensitivity to various antibiotics and allow the doctor to decide on the treatment.

Expert opinion

I would like to draw the reader’s attention to the peculiarities of the course of follicular tonsillitis in children. Their sore throat is not the first symptom, but occurs only on the second or third day of the disease. And acute tonsillitis debuts suddenly, with pronounced symptoms of general intoxication, often with damage to the meninges (this is evidenced by nausea, vomiting, fainting, convulsions in a child). The patient refuses food, notes the presence of pain in the abdomen, bloating, stool disorders. Such a severe course of the pathological process is an indication for the treatment of a child in an infectious diseases hospital. Parents should not be afraid of this and refuse hospitalization, because the main task is to help the child, alleviate his condition, get rid of the disease.

Letkin Alexander Pavlovich

Otorhinolaryngologist of the highest category

Treatment

Treatment of follicular tonsillitis in adults and children is based on rational antibiotic therapy. The patient is prescribed a broad-spectrum antibacterial drug, covering the maximum possible number of potential pathogens. An individual integrated approach of an otolaryngologist in the treatment of angina allows the patient to quickly get rid of the symptoms of intoxication and pain.

The patient may also be prescribed:

• antihistamines;
• oral antiseptics;
• vitamins;
• antipyretic and anti-inflammatory drugs;
• immunomodulators.

In case of severe intoxication, infusions of water-salt solutions (“droppers”) are carried out – detoxification therapy.

The role of topical therapies in the treatment of angina follicularis cannot be underestimated. These include:

• frequent rinsing with antiseptic solutions;
• tonsil irrigation;
• inhalation;
• washing the tonsils with the removal of pus;
• physiotherapy treatment (UHF, electrophoresis, magnetotherapy, etc.).

Prevention of follicular angina

Timely sanitation of all sources of chronic infection (sinuses, upper respiratory tract, teeth) will help reduce the risk of developing follicular angina and its complications. And you should also carry out general strengthening activities:

• hardening;
• compliance with the regime of work and rest, good sleep;
• active lifestyle playing sports;
• complete (rational, balanced) nutrition;
• smoking cessation;
• stress prevention.

Rehabilitation

With timely and adequate treatment, follicular tonsillitis regresses in 10-14 days – the patient recovers. Without treatment, it transforms into chronic tonsillitis or leads to the development of systemic complications (myocarditis, endocarditis, arthritis, nephritis, and others) that require regular monitoring by a doctor and medication.

Questions and Answers

The diagnosis of “follicular tonsillitis” can be made after examination by any competent therapist, family doctor or pediatrician. Clarification of the diagnosis and treatment of this disease is the task of the otolaryngologist.

Antibiotics form the basis of treatment. Their doctor prescribes taking into account the characteristics of the clinical picture of your case of the disease. Self-medication is unacceptable and can be dangerous.

No, the treatment of this disease is conservative. Surgery may be indicated to the patient with complications of tonsillitis (for example, if a pharyngeal abscess develops).

Vladimir Palchun: Otorhinolaryngology. National leadership. Publisher: GEOTAR-Media 2020, 1060 p.

Kunelskaya NL, Turovsky AB, Kudryavtseva Yu. S. Angina: diagnosis and treatment // Medical business. 2010. №3. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/anginy-diagnostika-i-lechenie (Date of access: 08/02/2022).

Clinical guidelines (treatment protocol) for the provision of medical care to children with tonsillitis (acute streptococcal tonsillitis). FGBU NIIDI FMBA of Russia, 2015. 29With.

Bacterial diseases: textbook / Ed. N. D. Yushchuk. M.: GEOTAR-Media, 2014. 976 p.

>

Diseases referred by Otolaryngologist (ENT)

Adenoiditis
allergic rhinitis
Angina
Angina catarrhal
Angina lacunar
Meniere’s disease
Inflammation of the lymph nodes
Sinusitis
Purulent otitis media
Diphtheria
Deviated septum
Cyst in sinus
Laryngitis
Otitis externa
Acoustic neuritis
Sensorineural hearing loss
Frontal sinus osteoma
Otitis
Otomycosis
Otosclerosis
nose fracture
Perforation of the tympanic membrane
Polyps in the nose
Polysinusitis
hay fever
Rhinitis
Rhinitis vasomotor
Sulfur plug
Sinusitis
Otitis media
Stenosis of the larynx
Sphenoiditis
Chronic tonsillitis
Tracheitis
Tubootitis (Eustachitis)
Hearing loss (deafness)
Ear noise (tinnitus)
Pharyngitis
Fibroma of the larynx
Frontit
Chronic sinusitis
Chronic rhinitis
Ethmoiditis

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Frequent sore throats in a child – what to do?

Treatment of angina in the ENT clinic №1

Article rating

3.78 (Votes: 9)

Contents

• Symptoms of angina

• Why does a pediatrician treat a sore throat in children?

• In which case, with angina, is it necessary to have an examination and treatment by an ENT doctor?

• Why does chronic adenoiditis provoke frequent tonsillitis?

• How can an ENT doctor help with frequent tonsillitis in a child?

• Modern possibilities for the prevention of frequent tonsillitis in children

If a child of preschool age suffers from frequent sore throats, repeating regularly every 1. 5-3 months, and sometimes more often, then it is necessary to urgently contact ENT doctor (possibly in remission) to examine the nasopharynx and determine the degree of adenoid hypertrophy. One of the common causes of recurrent tonsillitis in preschool children is the blockage of nasal breathing by enlarged adenoid tissue and the presence of chronic inflammation of the entire lymphoid protective ring (and tonsils and adenoids). As a rule, during the course of sanitizing and physiotherapeutic treatment of adenoids and tonsils, recurrences of tonsillitis stop.

Sore throat symptoms

• temperature rise to 38-40 degrees.
• severe sore throat worse when swallowing
• White or yellowish plaques on tonsils
• severe symptoms of intoxication (weakness, malaise, aching joints)

Why does a pediatrician treat a sore throat in children?

Angina is an infectious disease caused by a bacterial infection. The pediatrician observes and treats the child, since with this disease and immediately after it, it is necessary to monitor the condition of the heart and kidney function in order not to miss possible complications. Fearing complications, with angina, bed rest is prescribed for the first 3 days.

In what case is angina mandatory examination and treatment by an ENT doctor?

If a sore throat occurs once and does not recur after treatment, then it is quite enough to be observed by a pediatrician. But if sore throats continue to recur periodically, then immediately contact a specialized ENT clinic for an otorhinolaryngologist. It is very likely that the provoking factor is adenoid hypertrophy and chronic adenoiditis.

Why does chronic adenoiditis provoke frequent tonsillitis?

The cause of frequent sore throats is often a complete or partial blockage of nasal breathing caused by enlarged adenoid vegetations. Difficulty in nasal breathing provokes breathing through the mouth, while unheated, uncontaminated air passes through the mouth, which helps to cool the tissue of the tonsils, increase the immune load on the tonsil tissue, as well as often seeding with pathogenic flora due to the leakage of mucopurulent discharge along the back of the pharynx from inflamed adenoids, and as a result, decompensation and the occurrence of purulent inflammation in the tissue of the tonsils.

How can an ENT doctor help with frequent tonsillitis in a child?

In a specialized ENT office, an otorhinolaryngologist will conduct an endoscopic examination of the ENT organs, which is the gold standard for diagnosing hypertrophy and chronic inflammation of the adenoids, and also examine the condition of the tonsils for the presence of pathological contents in the lacunae of the tonsils, conduct a streptotest to identify the bacterial carriage of hemolytic streptococcus, the most common causative agent of angina and showing a high risk of developing autoimmune complications.

Modern possibilities for the prevention of frequent tonsillitis in children

In this situation, both the treatment of adenoiditis and the sanitation and physiotherapy of the tonsils are necessary. For this purpose, highly effective physiotherapeutic methods for the treatment of lymphoid tissue (adenoids and tonsils) are used: UZOL-therapy, laser therapy, magnetotherapy, as well as washing the nasopharynx and lacunae of the tonsils.