Strep?? Throat?? - Carthage,MO

My son just got over strep throat. I took him into the doctor because he was running a 104 temp and his eye was pink. Strep throat didn't even cross my mind until she swabbed his throat. It was positive. She said he had gotten the bacteria in his eye too? He had been very cranky for several days prior to me taking him in (I hadn't noticed a temp yet) and I noticed the day of (or maybe the day before) that he wasn't eating quite as much. He had began waking up a lot at night too before being diagnosed.
Strep is highly contagious. I was told it is most contagious while the child is running fever. It is passed through saliva and I read it can be passed through snot from the nose too...? My son's strep in the eye was passed to my husband and daughter by touching hand to eye to eye. Tears can also pass it I read.

Strep Throat is a really common bacterial infection, and since it's bacterial it responds (usually very quickly) to antibiotics. You catch it the same way you catch a cold or the flu... from breathing in air from someone else who has it, or via contact (like sharing a drink, unwashed hands, etc.).

Common symptoms are white pustules (white lumps) in the back of the throat, a metallic & putrid smell, swollen & red throat/tonsils, fever, body aches, etc. You can get a strep infection anywhere, but it's most common to get it in your throat.

The most commonly Rx'd antibiotic for strep is Amoxicillin, although others are also used. It's very VERY important to finish the entire round of antibiotics, even though you'll probably be feeling fine for weeks... in order to avoid making a super-strain that doesn't respond to the antibiotic. Strep is also really intolerant of salt. So in addition to the antibiotics, it's recommended that a person with strep throat gargle salt water several times a day. For those of us who are prone to strep, gargling saltwater when the first tickling of the throat starts, and actually wipe out an infection before it has a chance to get too strong. Toddlers can have a difficult time gargling without swallowing (and swallowing saltwater makes you throw up). So when kiddo was too young to gargle, I'd give him super salts fries from McDonalds when he was sick with strep. (I'd also spray his throat down with chloraseptic to numb it so he could drink/swallow without pain... but chloraseptic is something some parents don't like).

With antibiotics & salt water gargling; strep throat usually lasts about a week to 10 days. Without antibiotics strep throat can last for several weeks to over a month and can continue on into other systems. Scarlet Fever is a more advance strep infection, and can cause (amongst other things) permanent heart damage. So you REALLY want to hit strep with antibiotics as early as possible, and finish the entire course.

I only thought that my 2 year old might have strep b/c her sister had just had it. Neither kid really presented with anything other than a slight fever and a sore throat. My 2 year old was just really cranky, but since her sister had just had it, I suspected it right away and it was confirmed.
The back of the throat should be red and inflamed, if it's strep, BUT, until we took our 2 year old in, only he could see it, not us.

Not sure how often your child gets this but I personally am on my 5th time this year! No fun! My ENT basically said that the strep has possibly colonized in my throat and lays dormant for a while and then I get it again. I'm looking into getting my tonsils out, not a fun activity for anyone, but especially an adult! The ENT also said that if you have strep 6/year or 4/month then they medically recommend removal...I'm sure it's the same for kids. If your kiddo has had repeated streps see a specialist.

HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS! Can pass from unwashed hands, drinking from a glass that someone that is infected drank from and wasn't sterilized...handling toys, etc. However, it's managed through antibiotics. I used to have it once or twice a year until my doctor suspected my ex, who was never sick, was a carrier. He treated both of us with an antibiotic regimen and I've haven't had strep throat since.

My 2 year old son has now had strep throat several times. Antibiotics takes care of it pretty easily. He usually runs a fever near 104 when he gets it. The worst part is that he won't eat or drink anything, so I have to watch out for dehydration. Like the others said, it is passed through contact with others. Unfortunately, I am a strep carrier (I knew this from the beginning) and so I try to be really careful to make sure he doesn't eat or drink after me. And I really try to wash my hands all the time and really clean counters, food, etc.

I recently got a bad case of strep throat from eating a salad with red onions. Before I made this salad, I washed all the vegetables, but apparently not good enough. My doc says that it is common to get strep from vegetables that are not cleaned properly. Make sure you wash veggies very well with a veggie wash to avoid strep bacteria.

M

As a child I would get strep at least 4 times a year. It's very common and you can pick it up almost anywhere, just like the common cold.

The throat will usually be very sore and red. In most cases you'll be able to see little white spots in the throat. Strep is usually accompanied by a fever. It will be very hard to sallow.

The cure is antiboitics. It's important to visit a doctor, so they can do a throat culture to be sure it's strep. It's a simple procedure where the back of the throat is swabbed with a large q-tip. In most cases you can have the results in 5 to 10 minutes.

Gargling with warm salt water and drinking warm fluids will help relieve the pain.

you got some good answers- but I didn't see that anyone mentioned to change your toothbrush- our ped always tells us to replace the infected persons toothbrush with a new one after one week of antibiotics so they do not get reinfected from it.