According to JAMA, doctors are writing 6 times as many antibiotic prescriptions for adult’s sore throats as they should! And a whopping 70% of children with sore throats who are seen by a physician are treated with antibiotics, though at most 30% have strep (Group A Streptococcus, of GAS) infections, and half of those who have positive cultures are just strep carriers who have a cold or another common viral infection!
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) MOST SORE THROATS GET BETTER ON THEIR OWN, and with or without treatment most are better in 3-4 days.
So why are so many antibiotic prescriptions written? Well, it seems that most doctors, in spite of efforts from the CDC and other national health organizations to get docs to prescribe them less, are not getting the message and think they are needed to prevent the big scary concern — acute rheumatic fever, a potential consequence of strep. Yet this complication is exceedingly rare in the US. In fact, viruses, like the ones that cause a cold or the flu, cause most sore throats.
Antibiotic prescribing to patients who are unlikely to benefit is serious business – that is, BIG PHARMA business. All antibiotic use increases the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria –a global health crisis now sometimes leading to fatal, untreatable infections. Less dramatically, but still serious, antibiotic use leads to diarrhea in 5% to 25% of people treated with them and at least 1 in 1000 patients’ visits an ED for a serious adverse drug event! In children antibiotic use has been associated with asthma, eczema, and even ulcerative colitis! The good — and bad –news is that strep infections are still sensitive to penicillin so are still readily treated – but at least effectively.
How Do You Know When To Test and Treat a Sore Throat with an Antibiotic?
So how do you know if you or your child needs an antibiotic? A set of guidelines called the Centor Criteria provides this information
The Centor Criteria are a set of symptoms may be used to identify the likelihood of a bacterial infection in patients with a sore throat, and can help to quickly diagnose strep throat.
The Centor Criteria are made up for 4 symptoms, each assigned 1 point, and include:
- Fever
- Tonsillar exudates (white stuff on the tonsils/back of the throat)
- No cough (if there’s a cough it ain’t strep)
- Tender lymph nodes in the front/sides of the neck
- Age <15 add 1 point
- Age >44 subtract 1 point
The point system is important because it tells doctors whether to even check for strep with a throat swab, and whether to prescribe antibiotics. You can use the Centor Critieria to help you decide whether you even need a doctor’s visit for a sore throat. Here’s what the score tells you:
- 0 or 1 points – No antibiotic or throat culture necessary (Risk of strep. infection <10%)
- 2 or 3 points – Should receive a throat culture and treat with an antibiotic if culture is positive (Risk of strep. infection 32% if 3 criteria, 15% if 2)
- 4 or 5 points – Treat empirically with an antibiotic (Risk of strep. infection 56%)
According to the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the best thing to do is to wait for the results of the throat culture before starting antibiotic therapy. The throat culture is different from the rapid strep test done in the office – it is actually a culture the doctor sends out to a lab and usually takes about a day or two to get results back. They recommend that the physician write a prescription for antibiotics but suggest that it not be filled unless the throat culture comes back positive.
If the throat culture is positive, giving antibiotics is not a medical necessity. However, if your child does have strep, s/he cannot return to school until she’s been on antibiotics for 24 hours or until the illness is completely cleared up. Also giving antibiotics does reduce the transmission of strep to others in the family, so if you have a young baby or someone with immune problems in the household, it is prudent to consider using an antibiotic.
Choosing whether to treat the strep with an antibiotic becomes a matter of personal choice and medical common sense based on the circumstances. Remember, some people with a strep culture will be positive just because they are naturally colonized with strep and may still just have another viral infection. If they score high on the Centor Criteria and have a positive strep culture it probably is strep throat infection.
One common area of concern for parents when considering whether to treat their children with an antibiotic for strep is association of untreated strep with the condition called Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder — or PANDAS. This term describes a subset of children whose symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) or tic disorders are exacerbated by group A streptococcal (GAS) infection. One theory suggests that strep infection in a susceptible child, causes an abnormal immune response with resultant central nervous system disorders.
If you do choose to use an antibiotic for what seems like a true strep infection — a totally appropriate decision– make sure to also use a probiotic while on the antibiotic and for a few weeks after. Even little children can safely take a probiotic. This can help to prevent some of the health consequences to the gut flora associated with antibiotic use. It is most common between the ages of 5 and 12 years old, and the association with strep may just be one of numerous causative or contributing factors. Nonetheless, this is one reason that it may be prudent to treat culture diagnosed or high Centor scoring presumed strep infections with an antibiotic course. Any child presenting with PANDAS symptoms in conjunction with strep throat should absolutely be treated with an appropriate course of antibiotics.
Natural Sore Throat Treatments
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Home remedies can be used to reduce discomfort from a sore throat:
Here’s what I do in my practice – and in my family for garden-variety sore throats. Treating strep without antibiotics is a little more involved. The comfort measures below can still be used, but some more advanced herbal therapies are also often needed. Garlic and goldenseal figure big in that picture but I don’t address that here.
1. Simplify the diet and remove all dairy and sugar, including fruit juices
2. Gargle with warm salt water once every hour – or more often–to help reduce swelling and relieve discomfort. To prepare mix ½ teaspoon of sea salt into 1 cup of warm water. Even little kids can learn to gargle and it’s ok if they swallow some of the mixture.
3.Stay hydrated — Warm beverages, such as tea or broth can help decrease throat irritation. If kids (or grown ups) are having trouble drinking because of pain, using a drinking straw can really help. Lemon water can also be soothing.
4. Use a vaporizer or humidifier. Warm or cool mist can soothe inflamed air passages.
5. Herbal medicines and supplements
- Garlic Lemonade: One of my classic and reliable remedies — palatable to most and appropriate for all ages and even during pregnancy and breastfeeding. To prepare: Finely mince 2 cloves of fresh garlic (do not put them in a press)and place them in a 1-quart mason jar. Fill the jar with boiling water and cover for 30 minutes. Strain out the garlic, and to the liquid add the juice of 1 whole lemon. Sweeten to taste with honey. Give warm, can be taken freely.
- Herbal sprays and remedies containing Osha, echinacea, and propolis are particularly great for sore throats, viral infections, and sometimes even strep. Goldenseal is another reliable antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory but tastes awful so use in tincture and for the strong of taste. Licorice is classic in tea and tincture, as well as lozenges. None of these are appropriate in pregnancy, except licorice for no more than a few days at a time, and not if you have high blood pressure.
- Herb Pharm Soothing Throat Spray: Ingredients: Echinacea root, Propolis, Hyssop leaf & flower, Sage leaf, St. John’s Wort flowering tops. (Not for use in pregnancy; ok for short term use only while breastfeeding)
- Gaia Herbs Throat Shield Lozenges (not for pregnant women or little kids because of choking risk)
- Ricola Throat Lozenges (Lemon and Echinacea varieties are safe for short term use during pregnancy)
- Zinc lozenges (not for children under 5; children 5-10 years old: 5-10mg/day, over 10 years old 15-20 mg once or twice daily)
6. Rest
Red Flags: When to See a Doctor
Medical attention is absolutely needed if you see any of the following red flags: sore throats lasting more than a week, a child looking very sick, shaking chills, high fever (greater than 102°F [39°C]) with any of these other symptoms, night sweats, and neck swelling or pain only on one side, talking funny, or drooling. These red flags might indicate a more serious illness. Also, if a sore throat in a teenager goes away and comes back with a vengeance or just won’t clear up, this can also be a sign of sever infection called Lemierre’s disease or a peritonsillar abscess, and requires immediate medical attention.
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