“Strep throat is very common in children between the ages of five and 15, and if the children shortly – before preschool and on up through adolescence – if they have the symptoms, they should see their pediatrician.
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– Dr. Lonnie King, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

According to the Mayo Clinic, strep throat is one of the top four infectious illnesses that keep kids home from school.

(The others being colds, stomach flu and “pink eye,” or conjunctivitis.)

While strep throat may be a common childhood ailment, it’s also a serious condition that must be carefully watched.

The parents of eight-year-old Myhki have brought him to the E-R. Along with a bad sore throat, Myhki has fever, headache and difficulty swallowing. There’s also inflammation, as displayed by red and white patches in Myhki’s throat and on his tongue.

According to Dr. Lonnie King, with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, that coating is sometimes called “strawberry tongue.”

Myhki is tested for strep throat – an infection caused by the streptococcus bacteria. The test comes back positive.

The good thing about it is that, it is something we can do something about,” says Dr. King. “We can give him antibiotics and he should be fine within 24, 48 hours.”

Left untreated, strep throat can lead to rheumatic fever – which can inflame and scar heart tissue, damage the heart’s valves and eventually cause congestive heart failure.

“Our biggest goal to prevent rheumatic fever,” says Dr. King, “so these children don’t need valve replacements in ten or fifteen or twenty years. So that’s the reason that I encourage parents to have their children checked – to make sure it’s not strep, because you want to treat all as many cases of strep as you can, to prevent long-term…pretty terrible consequences down the road. “

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• People infected with strep throat often become ill two-to-five days after exposure. The illness often appears suddenly – with sore throat, headache, stomachache, nausea and a fever that peaks on the second day. (National Institute of Health/ U.S. National Library of Medicine)




• You should seek medical assistance for a child if there is severe difficulty in breathing, swallowing or – in a young child – if there is excessive drooling.
  Contact your medical provider, as well, if the child’s temperature is 101 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, if they have pus in the back of their throat, swollen or tender lymph glands in their neck, or have a red body rash. (University of Wisconsin – La Crosse)




• Make sure your child takes all their medication. Give them plenty of fluids, and food that doesn’t irritate their throat. Older children can gargle with salt water (1/2 teaspoon of salt in one cup of warm water) to make their throats feel better. (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)

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• U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• The Mayo Clinic
• American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery

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