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Strep throat

Strep throat (or "Streptococcal pharyngitis", or "Streptococcal sore throat") is a form of Group A streptococcal infection that affects the pharynx. more...

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Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of strep throat are red, sore throat with white patches on tonsils, swollen lymph nodes in neck, fever, and headache. Nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain are more common in children. The patient will usually not have a cough, unlike in a viral infection or coldlike symptoms including stuffy noses and sneezing.

Transmission

The illness is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes and is spread by direct, close contact with patients via respiratory droplets (coughing or sneezing). Casual contact rarely results in transmission. Rarely, contaminated food, especially milk and milk products, can result in outbreaks. Untreated patients are most infectious for 2-3 weeks after onset of infection. Incubation period, the period after exposure and before symptoms show up, is 2-4 days. Patient is no longer infectious within 24 hours of commencing treatment.

Diagnosis

The throat of the patient is swabbed for culture or for a rapid strep test (5 to 10 min) which can be done in the doctor's office. A rapid test tests for the presence of typical bacterial antigens in the swab, which are detected by specific antibodies provided in the kit. If the rapid test is negative (=normal), a follow-up culture (which takes 24 to 48 h) may be performed. A negative culture suggests a viral infection, in which case antibiotic treatment should be withheld or discontinued.

In the UK, rapid strep testing is not available to general practitioners and a clinical decision must be made whether to treat, whilst awaiting upto 7 days for a swab result to be reported. This is criticized for encouraging overuse of antibiotics (see antibiotic resistance).

Treatment

Antibiotic treatment will reduce symptoms slightly, minimize transmission, and reduce the likelihood of complications. Treatment consists of penicillin (orally for 10 days; or a single intramuscular injection of penicillin G). Erythromycin is recommended for penicillin-allergic patients. Second-line antibiotics include amoxicillin, clindamycin, and oral cephalosporins. Although symptoms subside within 4 days even without treatment, it is very important to start treatment within 10 days of onset of symptoms, and to complete the full course of antibiotics to prevent rheumatic fever, a rare but serious complication.

Amoxicillin should be avoided for treatment of a sore throat if bacterial (swab) confirmation has not been obtained since it causes a distinctive rash if the true illness proves to be glandular fever, better known as mononucleosis. This rash is harmless but alarming.

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Strep Throat
From Gale Encyclopedia of Childhood and Adolescence, 4/6/01 by Marta M. Vielhaber, M.D.

Symptoms

A child with a streptococcal throat infection may experience one or more of the following symptoms: sore throat, throat pain upon swallowing, fever, headache, or abdominal pain (with or without vomiting). Symptoms not typical of strep throat include nasal congestion, hoarseness, cough, or diarrhea; these symptoms are often indicators that a child's illness is caused by something else, commonly a viral syndrome.

In a child with strep throat, the tonsils and pharynx will appear reddened, sometimes to the point of being almost hemorrhagic, and exudates (pus) may be seen. The anterior cervical lymph nodes (the lymph nodes in the front of the neck, below the ear and just behind the jaw) may be tender or swollen, and the uvula in the back of the throat or the soft palate may have a red, rash-like appearance. Some children and adults with a GAS infection of the throat develop a highly characteristic skin rash known as scarlet fever . The diagnosis of strep throat is made with a throat culture, or in recent years, with rapid antigen detection tests or gene probe tests, both of which, like throat cultures, are performed on material obtained from swabbing the throat and tonsils.

At present, the treatment and outcome for streptococcal pharyngitis is the same whether a scarlet fever rash is present. However, some authorities believe that decades ago, scarlet fever may have represented a more severe disease that sometimes resulted in serious illness and even death.

Complications

Local complications of untreated strep throat can include infections of the sinuses, mastoids (bones behind the ear), and lymph nodes. The most serious complication of untreated streptococcal pharyngitis is a late immunologic complication known as rheumatic fever. This problem can occur several weeks after strep throat and cause inflammation of the heart valves with subsequent scarring. Glomerulonephritis (a kidney inflammation resulting in blood and protein in the urine) can also follow a GAS infection of the throat several weeks later, but is quite rare.

Treatment

To reduce the risk of complications and prevent transmission to others, streptococcal pharyngitis should be treated with an antibiotic , most often penicillin (either injectable or oral). For patients allergic to penicillin, erythromycin is the primary drug used. In addition to treatment of the infection itself, the discomfort of strep throat may be alleviated with over-the-counter analgesics (such as acetaminophen). After treatment with antibiotics, some children will continue to have throat cultures that are positive for GAS, and re-culturing asymptomatic patients after antibiotic therapy is not recommended.

Prevention

Antibiotics are sometimes used to prevent GAS pharyngitis in patients who have had rheumatic fever. If such patients contract strep throat again, they will experience exacerbations of their valvular disease and additional scarring; for this reason, they must be given streptococcal prophylaxis lifelong, which can be in the form of either monthly injections of long-acting penicillin or a daily oral antibiotic dose.

Gale Encyclopedia of Childhood & Adolescence. Gale Research, 1998.

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