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Suggest Treatment For Sore Throat, Redness And Fever
My son (8 1/2 years old) has a sore throat, and said his left ear hurt/felt weird when he swallowed. I looked in the back of this throat and there is some redness and a red vein looking thing on the left side on the back of his throat and somewhat on the ride side. He has no fever, but did complain before dinner of a tummy ache. We had him gargle water and spit. there appears to be small white spots (which I thought could be food build up) but were still there after gargling. What should I be concerned with? look for? (with school just starting back, I am concerned about strep throat) also, he is a pretty healthy child and rarely ever gets sick.
Thu, 29 Sep 2016
Hello dear,
Thank you for writing.
Considering the redness, swelling and pus (the white spots), your child might be suffering from a Streptococcus infection of the tonsils.
In such case, I would suggest a rapid strep test and throat culture swab. The rapid strep test is very simple,fast and inexpensive but does not always discover the infection. A positive result indicates to start an antibiotic course of minimally 10 days. I usually treat my patients with Amoxicillin, but since it is a prescription-based medicine, you will need to consult your pediatrician. A negative result does not rule out a strep infection. No matter how the strep test results comes back, a throat swab culture is in order to provide the final confirmation.
After the treatment, please don't forget to consult with your pediatrician again. He or she will make sure that the infection is healed. Confirmation will require a blood test that measures the titre of AntiStreptolisine. This follow-up is particularly important in strep infection, since it may lead to serious complications such as rheumatic fever and glomerulonephritis (a serious kidney disease).
I hope this helped. For any other questions or queries do not hesitate to contact me.
All the best,
Dr. Alma
Thank you for writing.
Considering the redness, swelling and pus (the white spots), your child might be suffering from a Streptococcus infection of the tonsils.
In such case, I would suggest a rapid strep test and throat culture swab. The rapid strep test is very simple,fast and inexpensive but does not always discover the infection. A positive result indicates to start an antibiotic course of minimally 10 days. I usually treat my patients with Amoxicillin, but since it is a prescription-based medicine, you will need to consult your pediatrician. A negative result does not rule out a strep infection. No matter how the strep test results comes back, a throat swab culture is in order to provide the final confirmation.
After the treatment, please don't forget to consult with your pediatrician again. He or she will make sure that the infection is healed. Confirmation will require a blood test that measures the titre of AntiStreptolisine. This follow-up is particularly important in strep infection, since it may lead to serious complications such as rheumatic fever and glomerulonephritis (a serious kidney disease).
I hope this helped. For any other questions or queries do not hesitate to contact me.
All the best,
Dr. Alma
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