Strep throat is a bacterial infection that mainly affects children and adolescents, but it is possible for anyone to catch it.
You can get strep throat by coming in contact with secretions from an infected person’s respiratory tract, such as when someone coughs or sneezes.
Signs of strep throat include a very red throat that may have white patches, as well as fever, body aches and chills, pain when swallowing, and swollen lymph nodes in your neck.
You can’t identify strep throat based on its symptoms alone. A doctor will need to do a throat swab and order at least one test to make a definitive diagnosis.
It’s very important to see a doctor for diagnosis and treatment if you suspect you may have strep throat. Failure to do so may lead to a number of complications, some of which can cause lasting damage or even threaten your life. (1,2,3)
Antibiotics for Strep Throat
The main treatment for strep throat is a course of antibiotics.
Your doctor will prescribe antibiotics only if you’ve been given a clear diagnosis of strep infection, which is confirmed by testing a throat swab.
More than two-thirds of sore throats are caused by viruses, not bacteria, and there are several risks to taking an antibiotic for a viral infection. Besides medication side effects, there is a greater potential for antibiotic resistance in the future, according to Nipunie S. Rajapakse, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Penicillin and amoxicillin are the two standard antibiotic treatments for strep throat. Either option is taken by mouth for 10 days.
In rare cases when someone can’t swallow effectively, injected penicillin may be used instead.
“Thankfully, Group A strep bacteria is 100 percent susceptible to these antibiotics,” notes Dr. Rajapakse. “We’ve never found any isolates that are resistant.”
In cases where a patient is allergic to penicillin or amoxicillin, another family of antibiotics may be substituted.
In these situations, “The only difference is that, often, we’ll have to test the specific type of strep the person has to make sure that the antibiotics work against it,” says Rajapakse.
Once you start taking antibiotics, you’ll still be contagious for about 24 hours. During this time, it’s important to take precautions not to spread your infection — such as staying home, washing your hands, and not coughing or sneezing uncovered or onto your hands. Group A strep pharyngitis is most commonly spread through direct person-to-person transmission.
Taking antibiotics for strep throat has two main benefits: reducing symptoms and preventing complications.
“We know that treating patients with antibiotics shortens their length of symptoms,” Rajapakse notes. But preventing complications may be even more important, since even though they’re uncommon, they can be severe.
Potential complications from untreated strep throat include an infected mass in the area around your tonsils, a rare kidney disease called post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, rheumatic heart disease, and an inflammatory condition called rheumatic fever — all of which can require lifesaving hospitalization and cause lasting damage.
People who have repeated strep infections of their tonsils may need to have their tonsils removed (tonsillectomy).
There’s no need to get tested again for strep bacteria after your course of antibiotics is complete, assuming your symptoms have cleared up.
In fact, Rajapakse says, testing for strep in people without symptoms can be harmful because some people carry the bacteria without it causing any harmful symptoms.
“If you do swabs on people who don’t have symptoms, you’re just finding these carriers who don’t benefit from antibiotics,” she notes. (1,2,3)
Asymptomatic people with strep are also much less likely to transmit it to others or develop complications.
Research is underway to develop a Group A strep vaccine, but none are available to patients yet.
Home Remedies to Treat Throat Pain and Discomfort
In addition to taking your prescribed antibiotics — or if you have a viral infection rather than strep throat — there are several steps you can take to increase your comfort level:
- Take pain relievers. Over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and acetaminophen (Tylenol) may help relieve throat pain and reduce fever. Be careful when it comes to aspirin — it should never be given to children recovering from chicken pox or flu-like symptoms, since it can cause a rare but serious condition called Reye’s syndrome.
- Drink hot beverages. Warm drinks like tea can soothe your throat, especially if you add lemon and honey.
- Or, try cold beverages. Some people may prefer the effect of cold beverages or even popsicles on their throat, since cold has inherent pain-relieving properties.
- Suck on throat lozenges. Many throat lozenges have pain-relieving (analgesic) ingredients, and all of them can help soothe your throat by increasing the flow of saliva.
- Try gargling with salt water. Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon (tsp) of salt in 1 cup warm water, and gargle with this solution several times a day to see if it improves your symptoms.
- Use a humidifier. If your home or bedroom has dry air, using a humidifier or cool-mist vaporizer may help soothe your throat. Note that if you have allergies, a humidifier may make your symptoms worse. Also, be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions for cleaning out your humidifier regularly to avoid the buildup of mold and other particulate matter, which can make allergies worse. (3,4)