Sore throat

An older child complaining of a sore throat or pain with swallowing. A younger child may have a sore throat if they refuse to eat or cry with feedings.When examined with a light, the throat may be red.

TIPS 

• Most sore throats are caused by a virus and may be part of a cold.
• Tonsillitis means any swelling or redness of the tonsils and may be caused by a virus or a bacteria. Viruses are more common in children under a year.
• About 10% of sore throats are caused by the strep (streptococcus Group A) bacteria. This does need treatment with antibiotics because of rare complications of an untreated strep bacteria such as rheumatic fever (which can lead to heart damage) or post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis ( a kidney complication where blood and protein are detected in the urine and causes a "coca-cola" colored urine). Strep throat may occur at any age, but is most common in children over 4 or 5 years of age. It is contracted by person-to-person contact and the incubation is 2 to 5 days. Strep rarely causes nasal congestion and cough. Symptoms of strep throat may include the following:

• fever
• sore throat with red spots or white spots on the tonsils
• swollen tender neck glands
• headaches
• stomach aches, nausea or vomiting
• fine, sandpaper-like rash may occur with strep called a scarletina rash or scarlet fever

• Children with congestion due to a cold or allergies may have a sore throat in the morning, that resolves later in the day and is secondary to mouth breathing and post-nasal drip.
• Infectious mononucleosis, commonly called glandular fever is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus

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