Targeting VEGF-A/VEGFR2 Y949 Signaling-Mediated Vascular ...
What Problems Can Strep Throat Cause?
Strep throat is an infection caused by group A Streptococcusbacteria. It can make your throat red, swollen, and sore. You can usually clear it up with antibiotics, but in rare instances, it can lead to more serious complications.
These can be related either to the infection itself or to the way your immune system responds.
Some of the people with a higher chance of getting a strep complication include:
Most of the time, you can avoid complications if you get treated and follow your doctor's instructions on how often and how long to take antibiotics.
The bacteria that cause strep throat can spread to other parts of your body if antibiotics don't kill them. This can cause infections in places near your throat, including your:
There are other problems the bacteria can cause, too.
You may hear these called "invasive strep infections." They include:Infection of tissue underneath the skin: Fat and muscle can become infected with the strep bacteria. The formal name for this is necrotizing fasciitis, and you may hear it called the "flesh-eating disease."
It's life threatening, but strep throat very rarely leads to this condition -- less than 1 child in a million each year.
Blood infections: The strep bacteria can also get into your bloodstream, where they don't normally live. This is called "bacteremia."
If the strep bacteria release toxins in multiple organs, it can create another rare, life-threatening condition called "streptococcal toxic shock syndrome" that can cause organ failure.
Symptoms include shortness of breath, cough, fever, aches, pains, and chills. These signs are much more likely to point to a common case of the flu rather than toxic shock. But call your doctor right away if you have these symptoms.
Other problems: It can also lead to pneumonia as well as bone and joint infections.
Researchers are also looking at a possible connection between a complication called PANDAS (Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with group A streptococci) and strep throat.
This term describes children with things such as obsessive compulsive disorder and tic disorder whose symptoms get worse after strep throat or scarlet fever.
Why Is Strep So Bad Lately?
© Lucy Nicholson/REUTERS Health officials are warning that strep-throat season could drag out, worsened by an antibiotic shortage and increased rates of a severe form of infection.
Strep, a common infection in the throat and tonsils, can strike at any time of year, but most cases occur in late fall to early spring. Serious complications are rare.
"Strep is always out there," said Anna Messner, chief otolaryngologist at the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. "But the frequency has increased."
This year there is also a rise in more aggressive, invasive group A strep infections among children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimates that between 1,500 and 2,300 people die annually from this type of strep.
Here is what to know.
Strep is caused by group A streptococcus bacteria. It mostly spreads through respiratory droplets, when people talk, sneeze or cough, or through contact such as eating off the same plate. Symptoms can include fever, difficulty swallowing and swollen tonsils with white patches. A throat-swab test determines if a sore throat is strep.
Doctors focus on treating it right away to prevent transmission to those who are susceptible to infection, such as the elderly or those with compromised immune systems. The CDC advises people to stay home until they no longer have a fever and have taken antibiotics for at least 12 to 24 hours.
Untreated strep throat can lead to pneumonia, rheumatic fever or other complications within weeks of an infection, according to Karen Acker, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Doctors attribute the rise to the return to normal life after isolation during the first years of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as a drug shortage and an increase in some respiratory illnesses.
Wearing masks and social distancing at the start of the pandemic reduced strep- transmission risks, according to doctors. Those who weren't exposed in the past few years might be coming in contact with the infection now, said Daniel Beswick, an otolaryngologist, or ear, nose and throat physician, with the University of California, Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, flu and other viral infections that have been going around can compromise people's immune systems and leave them vulnerable to other infections such as strep, said Dr. Messner of Texas Children's Hospital. She added that there has been a large increase in the number of children with recurrent strep throat coming to the ENT clinic over the past six months.
"We had first Covid-19, then RSV, and then huge flu outbreaks. And it's really more after the flu epidemic that we seem to be seeing more of the strep," Dr. Messner said.
A monthslong shortage of the antibiotic amoxicillin is also a concern, according to doctors.
The CDC has warned of a national shortage of amoxicillin in liquid form.
The Food and Drug Administration said it is working with manufacturers and others to try to reduce the impact of increased demand for liquid amoxicillin.
The scarcity isn't as bad as it was in 2022, and the reasons behind it aren't clear, said Erin Fox, senior pharmacy director at University of Utah Health.
Pharmaceutical companies are required to disclose shortages to the FDA, but they don't have to explain why there are supply issues to the public, she said.
"This is a very common situation with all shortages—we rarely know the true cause," Ms. Fox said. "Is it because there are more infections, or was production decreased this year based on last year's sales? We don't know the answer."
An FDA spokesman said the agency distributes information on drug shortages to the public "to the maximum extent possible, subject to certain confidentiality protections."
Amoxicillin pills are available, although they aren't ideal for young children. Some pharmacies can mix compounds to create a liquid, but it is expensive, said Ms. Fox.
Parents in search of the liquid form have sometimes secured it by scouring drugstores. Lori McGhee of Grove City, Ohio, recently found some after calling several pharmacies and waiting nearly two days. Her 8-year-old daughter, Carly, had a recurring strep infection. "It was just frustrating," Ms. McGhee said.
Augmentin, a broader-spectrum antibiotic, and penicillin, another antibiotic, can also treat strep throat. There are other drugs available for people allergic to penicillin or amoxicillin.
Invasive strep A infections are more aggressive, and can enter parts of the body such as the bloodstream. That can cause serious complications including pneumonia, toxic-shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis, or "flesh-eating disease."
Several public-health authorities have noted growth in the more dangerous strep. The CDC in December alerted healthcare providers to an increase in pediatric cases.
The Illinois Department of Public Health in March said there were more cases reported in 2023 than in any of the past five years of invasive group A strep throat.
Recent surveillance in New York state and New York City showed more invasive group A streptococcal infections this year among those ages 65 and older compared with in prepandemic years, state and local health authorities said in a recent advisory. Small increases were observed in children's cases.
In New York City, there have been more than 450 cases of invasive group A strep infections reported during the first three months of 2023—almost twice as many as the average for the same period in the previous five years, the advisory said.
Write to Suryatapa Bhattacharya at Suryatapa.Bhattacharya@wsj.Com
What's The Difference Between Tonsillitis And Strep Throat?
We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission Here's our process.
Healthline only shows you brands and products that we stand behind.
Our team thoroughly researches and evaluates the recommendations we make on our site. To establish that the product manufacturers addressed safety and efficacy standards, we:Was this helpful?
Strep throat is a type of tonsillitis. Both conditions can have similar symptoms, though certain symptoms are more likely to occur with one or the other.
You may have heard the terms tonsillitis and strep throat used interchangeably, but this is not accurate. You can have tonsillitis without having strep throat. Tonsillitis may be caused by group A Streptococcus bacteria, which is responsible for strep throat, but you could also get tonsillitis from other bacteria and viruses.
Keep reading to learn more about tonsillitis and strep throat.
Tonsillitis and strep throat have many similar symptoms. That's because strep throat can be considered a type of tonsillitis. But people with strep throat will have additional, unique symptoms.
Tonsillitis can be caused by a variety of germs, including viruses and bacteria. It's most commonly caused by viruses, however, such as:
Tonsillitis is only one symptom of these viruses. Your doctor will need to run tests and review all of your symptoms to determine which virus, if any, is the cause of your tonsillitis.
Tonsillitis can also be caused by bacteria. An estimated 15-30 percent of tonsillitis is caused by bacteria. The most common infectious bacteria are group A Streptococcus, which cause strep throat. Other species of strep bacteria may cause tonsillitis as well, including:
Strep throat is caused specifically by the group A Streptococcus bacteria. No other group of bacteria or virus causes it.
Risk factors for tonsillitis and strep throat include:
You can only have tonsillitis if you have tonsils.
In extreme cases, strep throat and tonsillitis can lead to the following complications:
You may not need to see a doctor for tonsillitis or strep throat. In most cases, symptoms will resolve within a few days of home care, such as rest, drinking warm liquids, or sucking on throat lozenges.
You may need to see a doctor, however, if:
Your doctor will ask you about symptoms and do a physical exam. During the physical exam, they will examine your throat for swollen lymph nodes, and check your nose and ears for signs of infection.
If your doctor suspects tonsillitis or strep throat, they will swab the back of your throat to take a sample. They can use a rapid strep test to determine if you are infected with strep bacteria. They can get results within a few minutes. If you test negative for strep, your doctor will use a throat culture to test for other potential bacteria. The results of this test usually take 24 hours.
Learn more: Streptococcal screen »
Based on your test results and symptoms, your doctor should be able to give you a diagnosis.
Most treatments will relieve your symptoms instead of actually treating your condition. For example, you can use anti-inflammatory medications to relive pain from fever and inflammation, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil and Motrin).
To relieve symptoms of sore throat, you can try these home remedies:
Shop for humidifiers.
TonsillitisIf you have tonsillitis caused by a virus, your doctor will not be able to treat it directly. If your tonsillitis is caused by bacteria, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection. Make sure to take antibiotics exactly as directed by your doctor.
Taking antibiotics will also help you reduce your risk of infecting other people. A research study involving 2,835 cases of sore throat showed that antibiotics reduced the duration of symptoms by an average of 16 hours.
In more extreme cases, your tonsils may be so swollen that you can't breathe. Your doctor will prescribe steroids to decrease inflammation. If that doesn't work, they will recommend a surgery called tonsillectomy to remove your tonsils. This option is used only in rare cases. Recent research also questions its effectiveness, with one study noting that tonsillectomy is only modestly beneficial.
Strep throatStrep throat is caused by bacteria, so your doctor will prescribe an oral antibiotic within 48 hours of the illness starting. This will reduce the length and severity of your symptoms, as well as the complications and risk of infecting others. You can also use home remedies to manage the symptoms of inflamed tonsils and sore throat.
Tonsillitis and strep throat are both contagious, so avoid being around other people while you're sick, if possible. With home remedies and lots of rest, your sore throat should clear up in a few days. See your doctor if your symptoms are extreme or persist for a long time.
Comments
Post a Comment