For a while now the sides of my throat have been very red and the doctor told me it was a viral infection. it has been a while and it is still red. ?

How long is a while?: What do you mean by "a while"? If it's a few days, no problem -- it often takes a week or a little more for garden variety viral pharyngitis to clear up. If pain or fever have lasted more than a week, or if you develop inflamed swollen lymph nodes, contact your doctor for further advice and maybe testing for things like strep or infectious mononucleosis (mono).