A member asked:

Is it important for strep throat to be treated?

12 doctors weighed in across 4 answers

Strep throat/treatme: Yes it is important to treat strep throat properly with antibiotis for ten days because, if not treated it can cause , scarlet fever, otitis media, sinusitis, pnumonia, strep septicemia.Rheumatic fever and acute nephritis are serious complications.

Answered 5/16/2017

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Dr. Ralph Morgan Lewis answered

Specializes in Family Medicine

Absolutely: Untreated strep throat can lead to ear/sinus infxn, peritonsillar abscess, infxn of mastoid air cells, scarlet fever, rheumatic fever (that can affect the heart, joints, nervous system & skin), & post-streptococcal glomerular nephritis (kidneys).

Answered 5/21/2017

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Yes!: If untreated, strep throat poses a significant risk of being passed on to others. Treatment rapidly decreases infectiousness. However, many sore throats are not caused by strep; viral causes are quite common. Strep tests occasionally are also falsely positive - no test is ever perfect. Antibacterial drugs do not help with viral infections.

Answered 10/25/2016

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Depends: In the short term, most untreated patients will gradually feel better & return to a stable state of health.An estimated 1/200 will develop rheumatic fever and associated heart disease, kidney or brain impairments.Some of these will eventually die from complications if untreated. They also pass this & the risk on to others. If you relish infecting your family/friends roll the dice.I'd get treated

Answered 11/30/2017

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