Sore throats are a frequent complaint in childhood, and in many cases, uncomfortable symptoms fade with rest, fluids, and a little time. But sometimes a sore throat signals something more serious — like a bacterial infection caused by streptococcus germs, an infection commonly known as strep throat.
When strep isn’t treated quickly, it can lead to complications far beyond throat pain: Unmanaged bacterial infections can spread to your child’s heart, kidneys, or other organs.
Because children often get sick quickly and symptoms can escalate rapidly, knowing when to have your child tested for strep throat is essential. In this post, the team at Nevada Pediatric Specialists offers some simple tips to help you decide when your child can heal at home and when a sick visit and strep testing are the best step toward better health.
Severe throat pain is perhaps the most common and recognizable sign of strep throat. Unlike a sore throat that tends to come on gradually, strep throat usually worsens quickly and feels unusually intense.
Over-the-counter remedies can’t provide meaningful relief for these sore throats, and you may even notice your child has difficulty swallowing or complains of pain when eating or drinking.
Sore throats associated with colds can also cause a fever, but that fever is usually relatively mild. Strep throat tends to be associated with fevers of 101°F or higher, another important clue that your child might have a strep infection.
Tonsils are fleshy pads located on either side of your child’s throat. If your child has strep throat, the tonsils usually swell or turn very red. In some cases, small white patches or streaks of pus are visible, indicating the immune system is responding to a bacterial infection.
In addition to tonsils, the lymph nodes in your child’s neck may swell as a result of a strep infection. These nodes help filter out infections, and swelling indicates the body is actively fighting off a germ invasion. Your child might experience tenderness along their jawline or under their ears, and you may be able to feel swelling when you gently touch the area.
Many kids develop a headache with strep throat, especially if they have a fever. Some kids may have nausea or complain of belly pain. These whole-body symptoms don’t always appear, but when they do, it adds to the conclusion that your child needs to be tested for strep.
Strep tests use a long-handled swab to painlessly collect a sample of fluids from the back of your child’s throat. Once collected, we evaluate the sample under a microscope to look for strep bacteria — the definitive and conclusive sign of strep throat.
If your child has a strep throat, we prescribe antibiotics to clear the infection and kill the germs so they can’t spread. It’s important to make sure your child takes the entire prescription, even if they start to feel better, to make sure all the germs are eliminated.
Strep tests are fast, painless, and provide the protection kids need to get better and avoid more severe illness. If your child has severe throat pain, fever, or other strep-related symptoms, book an appointment online or over the phone with the team at Nevada Pediatric Specialists in Henderson and Las Vegas, Nevada, today.
