Strep throat is a bacterial infection that can make your throat feel sore and scratchy. It accounts for only a small portion of sore throats and is most common in children, but it affects people of all ages. If you have strep throat, your throat and tonsils may appear red, sore, and swollen. You may also have white patches, spots, or streaks of pus on your throat and tonsils. In addition, you may develop tiny, red spots on the roof of your mouth called petechiae. Other signs and symptoms of strep throat include:
- Throat pain that usually comes on quickly
- Painful swallowing
- Fever
- Chills
- Headache
- Loss of appetite
- Abdominal pain
- Nausea and vomiting
Its possible for you or your child to have many of these signs and symptoms but not have strep throat. The cause of these signs and symptoms could be a viral infection or some other illness. Thats why your doctor generally tests specifically for strep throat. To figure out if strep is causing your sore throat, your doctor may use a rapid strep test. Results are ready in 5 to 10 minutes, but the test doesn’t pick up all cases of strep. If yours is negative, your doctor may send a throat culture to the lab to be sure. That’s more thorough, but you won’t get the results for a few days.
