Last Friday, my younger one could not go to school and I spent the whole weekend caring for her. At first, I thought she was fighting a cold, when she told me it was hard for her to swallow anything, I knew it was something else. I took her to see her pediatrician and my suspicion was confirmed.
My daughter had strep throat and I want to share a few things about her condition with you.
Strep throat is an infection that is caused by bacteria and leads to a sore throat. However, most sore throats are caused by a virus and are not strep throat. It is hard to tell the difference between strep throat and a sore throat caused by a virus. But there are some clues you can look for such as severe throat pain, fever, swollen glands in the neck, redness on the roof of the mouth, or white patches in the back of the throat.
It seems like children older than five who have strep throat do not usually have a cough, runny nose, or itchy or red eyes. Strep throat is uncommon in very young children, but if they do get it, it can cause a runny or stuffy nose, plus a slight fever. Babies with strep throat might act fussy and not want to eat.
In order to test for the strep throat, the doctor or nurse can run a swab along the back of the child’s throat and test it for the bacteria that cause strep throat. Once the test shows that the child has strep throat, he or she might need antibiotics which can prevent problems that strep throat can sometimes cause.
It can also help to give the child things that are easy to swallow, like tea or soup, or popsicles to suck on. As it can be difficult to swallow, your child might not feel like eating or drinking, but it’s important that he or she gets enough liquids. Gargling with salt water might also help.
My daughter no longer has a sore throat or fever. Although she feels better, she must continue to take the antibiotics as ordered by her doctor. She is also drinking a lot of fluids.
Last night, she wanted to have a tea party which we both enjoyed.
