A female asked:
had a throat infection. 4 months later still hav large tonsils no pain. swabbed it myself as dr dismissed me! found group a strep. is treatment needed?
2 doctor answers
Dr. Steven Warren answered
9 years experience Family Medicine
Not necessarily: Group A strep is a common bacteria in your system and can grow on culture but usually does not cause infections unless immune system is very low Tonsils because of infections can stay big for a long time but can be free of infection If you have a hard time swallowing or other problems with your throat go to an ENT provider for an evaluation I would not treat a group A strep unless additional sy
Answered on Mar 13, 2020
Dr. David Lipkin answered
52 years experience Internal Medicine
No: Antibiotics are given to prevent Rheumatic Heart Disease(RHD), NOT to cure the sore throat. At best they may reduce the duration of symptoms by 16 hours. The incidence of Rheumatic Fever(RF) in the U.S. is one in a million cases of strep throat. Only one out of three patients with RF develop RHD. For every three million antibiotic Rx's only one case of RHD is prevented. **See
my comments below:
Answered on Oct 9, 2015
2
2 comments
Dr. David Lipkin commented
52 years experience Internal Medicine
Provided original answer
The axiom that strep throat IN THE U.S. requires antibiotics came from a single decade long study at Andrews Air Force Base, WY in the 1940's-50's when there was a very unusual epidemic of RF with an incidence ONE THOUSAND TIMES normal. In that study those patients given a placebo: 2% of patients developed RF For those given penicillin 1% developed RF. 1 case of RHD is prevented per 3,000,000 RX
Oct 9, 2015
Dr. David Lipkin commented
52 years experience Internal Medicine
Provided original answer
10 million prescriptions for antibiotics are written every year for strep throat. For for every one million prescriptions of antibotics written for strep throat there are twenty four hundred potentially fatal allergic reactions as well as one hundred thousand cases of diarrhea and one hundred thousand rashes. ** http://amzn.to/1jhyueV Hippocrates Shadow, David Newman,MD
Oct 9, 2015
90,000 U.S. doctors in 147 specialties are here to answer your questions or offer you advice, prescriptions, and more. Get help now:
Related questions:
A 30-year-old female asked:
Dr. Kenny Chuu answered
12 years experience Internal Medicine
Antibiotics: Hi
So the usual recommendation is that you get tested for Group B strep between 35-37 weeks of your pregnancy. If you test positive, they will give yo ... Read More
A 24-year-old member asked:
Dr. Robert Kwok answered
33 years experience Pediatrics
Doctor can evaluate: Throat pain can be from a strep throat infection (antibiotics are needed), a cold or influenza (antibiotics usually not used), or from some other caus ... Read More
A 28-year-old female asked:
Dr. Carla Enriquez answered
50 years experience Pediatrics
Post infection : Your tonsils were infected with a powerful bacterium. They have recovered and are now repairing themselves. If they become scarred in the healing proc ... Read More
1
1 thank
A 20-year-old female asked:
Dr. Martin Raff answered
56 years experience Infectious Disease
Diagnosis: The obvious question is "how was the strep throat diagnosed?". It may be something other than strep. Without knowing your full set of symptoms and b ... Read More
1
1 thank
90,000 U.S. doctors in 147 specialties are here to answer your questions or offer you advice, prescriptions, and more. Get help now:
People also searched for:
Connect by text or video with a U.S. board-certified doctor now — wait time is less than 1 minute!
24/7 visits
$15 per month