One fine morning, you wake up and feel pain in your throat; its itchiness and scratchy nature irritates you to bits that it hurts when you swallow or take anything. So, if you start thinking about how do you get strep throat, multiple reasons can cause a sore throat.
Strep throat is similar to a sore throat; a person feels scratchy, itchy, and painful, but it is caused by strep bacteria or group A streptococcus. It resides in our nose and throat; we can get infected by someone carrying it or already suffering.
It infects your throat and the lymph nodes present in the back of your mouth (tonsils); it inflames them, which eventually results in the inflammation of the surrounding area, too, causing a sore throat; there is a very rare chance that strep throat may turn it into severe or harmful diseases.
But if not treated properly, strep throat leads to serious illnesses like rheumatic Fever, adversely affecting your heart health; it damages your valves. It’s advisable to deal with strep throat immediately, get yourself checked, and get the necessary treatment from a healthcare professional.
If treated right, your sore throat is treated within a week or 10 days; it is more common in children, teens, or younger people than adults or older people. Its spreading mechanism is the same as other viral diseases; when a person with strep throat sneezes or coughs, they spray the bacteria as tiny droplets a nearby person picks through inhaling or breathing.
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Understanding Strep Throat
Strep throat falls in the category of mild disease or infection. It can be treated within 7 to 10 days after the diagnosis, but it can be fatal if neglected for a long; it turns into rheumatic Fever, adversely affecting your heart health and damaging heart valves.
But if the treatment starts on time, and the health care professional prescribes proper medication, you can get rid of it within days. The chances of getting strep throat are very common if you are present in the company of a person who already has it or in a place where it’s already in the air. There two main reasons why you can get it are:
- Respiratory droplets
- Getting in direct contact with an infected person
How Do You Get Strep Throat?
Strep throat is primarily caused by group A Streptococcus, a type of bacteria; it makes strep throat different from similar conditions, usually due to viruses. Viral infections are mostly associated with a sore throat, but that is not the case with strep throat.
- Strep Throat is Contagious
Strep throat is highly contagious, it spreads rapidly, and there are very rare chances that you can dodge it and come out clean from a present environment or after contact with the person who has it. What so ever is causing it, this is contagious.
Even people who don’t feel or show any symptoms of having it can also become an easy carriers of strep throat and spread it wherever they go, but it is confirmed by studies that people who show symptoms are more contagious than people who show less or no symptoms at all.
- Spread of Strep Throat
The Spread of strep throat is very fast and spontaneous; it easily hops on from one person to another, especially in households or confides places, where you can live with other people under one roof and have direct contact. It spreads in two ways, including respiratory droplets and direct contact with a sick person.
Respiratory Tiny Droplets: The bacteria responsible for causing strep throat lives in two places of your body, nose, and throat. When you sneeze, talk to someone, or even cough, it starts coming out in the form of tiny droplets, spreading it to other people; they can get infected if they:
- Breathe or inhale the droplets
- By touching an infected area and then touching their nose or mouth
- Get it by sharing personal items, such as sharing a drinking glass
Direct Contact: Bacteria often live in infected body areas or sores; when someone touches that area or comes under direct contact with the sores or fluids, there is a very high chance that the person will get strep throat sooner or later.
- Contagious Period of Strep Throat
The contagious period of strep throat is usually between two to five days; you can also call it the incubation period when you get infected and start developing the symptoms. You are vulnerable to others during this period, as you can infect them.
But if you start the medication sooner and take antibiotics, the contagious shrinks to only 24 to 48 hours; after that, you may be no longer contagious.
Who Is Most Affected By Strep Throat?
It’s most common in children and teens, especially school-going children who are most vulnerable to these bacteria; children of groups 5 to 15 are the prime target of this bacteria. Anyone with direct contact with these children, whether they are siblings at home, staff, or teachers at school, can all be affected.
Similarly, people in group settings are at higher risk of getting it; group settings include daycares, households, schools, military barracks, etc. Its Spread is because bacteria reproduce insanely fast and spread among people in contact.
Strep Throat commonality and Spread
As per different surveys and studies, healthcare professionals or providers see almost 616 million new cases every year around the globe; it is the most common cause of initialized-sore throat in adults and children. Strep throat, in general, accounts for 5 to 15 percent of new sore throat cases in adults in the United States.
The ratio among children is much higher, which is responsible for causing sore throat in around 15 to 35 percent of children in the United States. The reason behind this huge percentage is schools or play areas, where they spend most of their time; one infected child can affect almost all the children who make contact with or inhale strep bacteria in the form of a tiny droplet.
Symptoms of Strep Throat
The symptoms vary from person to person, as everybody has their strength and response to different bacterial or viral diseases. It also depends on the severity and how long a person is affected by it; the most sudden symptom is a sore throat that you can feel immediately after getting in contact with this bacteria.
High Fever is the second common symptom you may get on the second day after the infection. Other symptoms that are prevalent in most of the patients suffering from its include
- Headache
- Chills
- Abdominal Pain
- Loss of Appetite
- Vomiting or Nausea
Surprisingly cough is not the symptom caused by strep throat; cough is related to cold and is mostly associated with viral infections; some people don’t develop any symptoms and have strep throat.
How to Identify Strep Throat
Strep throat affects your throat and its surroundings; the first thing you may notice is having trouble swallowing or food intake down to your throat; you feel severe pain, this is due to your tonsils which appear red, swollen, and sore; you may also find white patches or spots on your tonsils and throat, you can examine it in front of the mirror by opening your mouth wide open.
You may also develop tiny red spots on your mouth ceiling; these tiny red spots are called Petechiae. Conversely, there is a high chance that you may develop a rash on your body, known as scarlet Fever. It is first visible on your chest and neck; from there, it can also spread to other body parts.
Another thing that strep throat does to your body is cause skin infection, resulting in sores; when this happens, this particular infection is called impetigo. These are some ways to identify whether or not you are suffering from strep throat or not.
Is strep throat Painful?
Strep throat falls in the category of less fatal diseases, a mild condition. Still, it can be very painful because of your swollen throat and surrounding area, which causes severe pain. The lymph nodes in your neck may get swollen; they are very tender, which causes severe pain when you swallow food; similarly, in case of a rash on your neck or chest due to strep throat, it may feel like sandpaper.
Strep Throat Diagnosis
Paying a visit to the health care professional is crucial if you feel having strep throat, a professional help examine your body by performing a physical procedure and can also ask for a strep test. The test distinguishes between viral illnesses that may have the same symptoms as strep throat, which is spread and caused by bacteria.
Test for Strep Throat
The test confirms the presence of group A Streptococcus bacteria in your throat; the bacteria are responsible for putting your throat in a very bad situation. You will find this test painless. The sample from the infected person’s throat is taken with the help of a cotton swab.
Although the test is painless, some people may find it hard to touch their throat and collect the sample. Once the sample has been picked, it is sent to a laboratory where this throat culture is tested. It will take 20 minutes. If you are positive, you have strep throat; if you are not satisfied, you can also not get it double-checked by sending it to the laboratory.
If you stick with throat culture testing, the lab technician will rub the swab on a culture dish. The dish is carefully monitored, and it usually takes one or two days to witness whether or not Streptococcus bacteria grows. This method is more reliable the rapid testing. The risk of getting strep bacteria is higher.
Treatment and Getting rid of Strep Throat
The most common and effective way to treat bacterial infection is by taking antibiotics; the antibiotic kills the bacteria responsible for creating the infection; usually, penicillin and amoxicillin are given to patients, but a doctor can suggest different medicine if you are allergic to penicillin.
The antibiotic can be in tablet or liquid form. You can also get antibiotic shots, but whatever the case is, you have to take them for at least 10 days to get rid of the bacteria completely; if you get improvement after taking one or two doses, don’t stop taking meds at least for 10 days.
Can you get rid of strep throat overnight?
No, you can’t get rid of the bacteria that cause strep throat; you need a proper cleansing of bacteria, which is done by taking antibiotics. You can take it in liquid or tablet form; you will see a major improvement in your health within a couple of days.
Preventing Strep Throat
The best way to get rid of strep throat is by maintaining or practicing good hygiene, washing your hand two to three times, and washing your hand for almost 20 seconds before eating. Shield yourself from coughing and sneezing. Another way to prevent strep throat is:
- Use hand sanitizer to make your hand bacteria-free if soap or water is not present
- Cover your mouth with a tissue while sneezing or coughing, and throw the tissue paper in the basket
- Don’t share or use utensils, cups, or glasses of a sick person with others.
Strep bacteria can do some serious damage to your body if left untreated; a person can get into some serious complications, which include:
- Ear or sinus
- Abscesses formation around your tonsils
- Scarlet Fever
- Rheumatic Fever
- Effect kidneys
Final Thoughts
Although Strep throat is an easy disease, things get complicated if ignored for a long; you can examine yourself by checking swollen tonsils and white dots in the throat area. When you get the information confirming strep throat, consult a doctor and start medication. It can damage your heart if the condition gets worse. You should keep a distance from the infected person and take preventive measures such as no sneezing or coughing to avoid getting strep throat.