It is known that if you have a sore throat which does not cause many problems, is not severe, and you also have symptoms caused by a flu , then, you can follow some remedies in order to feel better.

You can drink a lot of fluids, humidify your bedroom by using a steamer, take non-prescription throat lozenges, gargle with warm salt water several times daily, and you can also take acetaminophen or ibuprofen to relieve pain.

In some cases, the sore throat can be severe, and can last more than 5-7 days. In this situation, it is necessary that you seek medical help. There can appear symptoms that should determine you to go to the doctor. We can mention here difficulty opening the mouth, swallowing, breathing, severe and prolonged sore throat, blood in saliva or phlegm, fever, earache, rash, lump in the neck and hoarseness lasting over 2 weeks.

It is important to know if the patient has a viral or a bacterial infection. Antibiotics are drugs that kill bacteria, and they are being prescribed when the patient suffers of streptococcal or other bacterial infection. Usually, the doctor prescribes penicillin or erythromycin, but there is a number of bacterial throat infections that do not respond to penicillin. In this case, there is prescribed another antibiotic.

Antibiotics should not be used when we are dealing with a viral infection, because they will have no effect against the virus, they work only against bacterial infections.

The viruses lower the body’s resistance to bacterial infections, so there exists the possibility that a combined infection to appear, situation that requires the use of antibiotics.

It is important to take antibiotics as long as the doctor says it is necessary – usually for ten days- because, otherwise there exists the possibility for the remaining bacteria to cause a worse infection and to develop resistance to the antibiotic.

To find out if a streptococcal infection is present, the doctor will perform a strep culture test. When the test is negative, the doctor will prescribe you a treatment basing on the severity of your symptoms and the appearance of your throat on examination.

When the strep culture test is positive, an antibiotic treatment is started, and some doctors may recommend that the treatment to be followed by the patient’s family members too, because streptococcal infections are very contagious.

You can’t keep a strep infection away, but you can take some measures of precaution. You should avoid close physical contact with infected persons, sharing towels, napkins and utensils with them, and another wise thing to do is to wash your hands as often as possible. It is known that bacterial infections are very contagious, but practicing good sanitary habits helps us to lower the risk of getting an infection.

For more resources on different strep throat subjects check out this link http://www.strep-throat-center.com. You can find great content regarding strep throat in adults, strep throat symptoms, home remedy for strep throat and many more strep throat related issues.

Groshan Fabiola

http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/about-viral-and-bacterial-throat-infections-122066.html

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4 Responses

  1. Stacey

    2010 Jan 29 1

    Viral or Bacterial throat infection?
    so i noticed this morning that my throat hurt… not to the point as to where i refuse to swallow due to pain, i can swallow reasonably. My mom says she thinks it’s a viral throat infection, but i’m not to sure. If you’ve had experience with any of this please help me diagnose it.

    Strep Throat symptoms include:
    - FEVER!
    - sore throat
    - white spots on throat
    - body aches
    - dizziness

    MY SYMPTOMS:
    - Headache
    - slight sore throat
    - white spots on lymph nodes (tonsils)

    Please don’t jump to the conclusion that i automatically have strep just because i mentioned the white spots on my tonsils, because just so you know the white spots are Infections, not bacteria. So it can be for either infection. The main symptom for strep is fever, and i do not have a fever.

    Thanks!

  2. Spoon

    2010 Jan 29 2

    Probably viral, and even if it isn’t it doesn’t really matter. As long as you can swallow ok you might as well just let it resolve on its own.

    There can be some exudate on the tonsils anyway, and unless you are medically trained you might have a hard time identifying the symptoms.

    OFC if you find it really painful or have any trouble swallowing then you should go to see a doctor.
    References :

  3. kipjuber

    2010 Jan 29 3

    the white spots point to strep throat. the fever may come later. white spots almost always mean strep. go to a doctor before it gets worse.
    References :

  4. namairb2

    2010 Jan 29 4

    This can be viral or bacterial the difference is if it’s viral you’ll be on antibiotics, but you’ll need to ride the infection out. The meds are to treat any other potential infections from taking hold while you ride out the virus, and if its bacterial the antibiotics will help you to get through the infection quicker along with the other symptoms. So while there is a difference, the reasoning behind the two is how long you’ll be sick. Hope this explains it better, and the only way you’ll know for sure is to be checked by the doctor. He’s the only one that can tell you which it is and this is only after both blood work and maybe a throat swab, depending on the doctor.
    References :
    nursing experience


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