Strep throat – a contagious disease
Strep throat may affect anyone, at any age but it most frequently occurs in children and teenagers due to the fact that they are more at risk to contract it at school, kindergarten or any other widely populated places.
The symptoms appear only after the incubation period of the bacteria (2-5 days) and disappear in about one week with or without the help of antibiotics. On the contrary, in case the soreness is generated by allergens or irritants, sore throat lasts longer; to prevent that damaging factors' action should be stopped.
The treatment with antibiotics will make you less contagious in 2 days. In case the disease is not treated, you may spread the bacteria to other people for 14 to 21 days, starting from the moment you contracted it yourself.
Antibiotics are the most effective means to prevent complications that may be generated from untreated strep throat. Complications may include otitis, sinusitis or peritosillar abscess and they are also able to generate autoimmune reactions such as rheumatic fever. Acute glomerulonephritis may also appear unless proper antibiotic treatment is administered.
The treatment of strep throat
Strep throat represents a condition generated by infection with Group A streptococcus bacteria. Its main symptoms are: inflammation of the tonsils, fever and stomach pain.
Strep throat is efficiently treated by penicillin, amoxicillin or cephalexin. They eradicate bacterial infections but are unable to fight against the viral ones.
It usually takes 3-7 days for strep throat to disappear, even in the absence of the antibiotics. But these medicines, which are only effective against the symptoms if they are administered in the incipient phase (2-3 days) have a series of benefic actions in fighting strep throat. Such actions are:
- * They destroy streptococcal bacteria and reduce the period in which you are able to spread the infection (after 1 or 2 days from the beginning of treatment you are not contagious anymore).
- * They prevent both complications generated by the spreading of the infection inside the body (peritosillar abscess, otitis or sinusitis) and the possible consequences of autoimmune reactions generated by strep bacteria (rheumatic fever).
- * They alleviate the symptoms and speed up the recovery.
After the strep throat diagnosis is given, you may begin to take antibiotics right away. It is better for you to wait for the results of pharyngeal exudate, in order to obtain the exact diagnosis, and to avoid problems caused by inappropriate use of antibiotics.
- * You are not at increased risk to develop complications such as rheumatic fever even if you delay antibiotic administration until you receive the result of pharyngeal exudate.
- * Your body has the time to fight the infection by its own means, which increases its immunity. You will be less exposed to other strep infections and will not develop resistance to certain medicines.
In order to decrease fever and to relieve the pain acetaminophen or anesthetic throat spray may be recommended by your doctor in addition to prescribed antibiotics.