What you Have to Do if you Got a Strep Throat

Strep throat is a disease caused by Group A streptococci bacteria. It is very important to treat this disease, because, there are cases when it causes arthritis or heart problems.
When the doctor founds out that the patient has strep throat, he will prescribe antibiotics. This medicines help the immune system to get rid of the bacteria. Usually, the treatment lasts for ten days, and it was seen that after 24 hours have passed since you started the treatment, you will feel much better, and you are no longer contagious. But, it is very important to continue the treatment until the 10-days period is over, because the remaining bacteria can develop resistance, and a worse infection can occur.

It is known that strep throat is very contagious. If someone from the school, one of your friends or a member of the family has strep throat, there is a chance that you may get that too. If you are near a person that has strep and that person sneezes or blows his nose, the bacteria may spread to you.
It is important not to share the same spoons, forks, towels, and to wash your hands as often as possible. You can't avoid bacteria, but you can lower the chances to develop a sore throat.

If you go to the doctor, first he will look in your mouth to see which is the situation of your throat and tonsils. The throat may be red and the tonsils swollen and covered with white or yellow spots. It is also possible to appear spots on the roof of your mouth.
To determine if there is a strep throat, the doctor will perform a rapid strep test.
He will rub a cotton swab over the back of your throat, and after that, in less than an hour, if the test turns to be positive, he will know it is dealing with a strep throat. But, the test may be negative, and then, in order to be sure if there is or not a strep throat, he will do a test called throat culture. It takes about 2 days that test to be ready.
If the doctor founds that you have a strep throat, he will give you antibiotics. Usually, the most prescribed antibiotic is a form of penicillin. It is important to finish the treatment, even if you start feeling better.
In adittion, you can take acetaminophen to get rid of pain, fever and aches, and have soothing drinks, but you should avoid spicy and acidic foods.
In order to avoid spreading the bacteria, it is important to stay at home the first 24 hours after you started antibiotic treatment.

There are a few things you can do in order to prevent strep throat if someone in your house has it, but it is important to know that there does not exist a solution to avoid the infection, you can only reduce the chances of getting it.
You should keep sores and cuts clean, wash your hands regularly and make sure that the person with strep covers his mouth when sneezing or coughing.

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