A sore throat occurs in most persons one or more times a year caused by different mechanisms and germs. The most common cause is viruses leading to great throat pain and fever; these infections cannot be treated with antibiotics. Colds and coughs may lead to a sore throat by irritation mechanism or by a postnasal drip. Allergens can also lead to throat irritations and the Coxsackie virus provokes fever, sore throat, and pain in the cheeks, gums and lips. It is the hand-mouth-foot disease.

The other important cause of the sore throat is the streptococcal infection which can be treated with antibiotics. There are a few certainty symptoms in order to establish the diagnose of bacterial sore throat:

1.High fever lasting more than 3 days is usually related to streptococcus.

2.Red sore throat with white and yellow points on the tonsils.

3.Previous exposure to a sick person

4.Headaches, stomachaches or vomiting

5.Fine, red-pimple rash on the skin caused by a strep toxin.

If your child is younger than 3, has multiple cold symptoms, his throat is not extremely red, the general status is not very bad and throat pains occur only while coughing and not while swallowing or pressing the throat from the outside, it is more likely that he does nor suffer from a streptococcus infection.

Throat infections are contagious by saliva, coughing and contact with a sick person's hands or personal items. The incubation period for viruses is normally 3 days to 3 weeks while streptococci need only 2-5 days to multiply inside the body. Patients or caretakers should not contact a doctor immediately after the apparition of a sore throat; they should wait until eventual certain symptoms of a strep infection occur.

If the doctor has indicated the child a home treatment, you can use painkillers like acetaminophen or Ibuprofen or both, throat lozenges, gargles with pharmaceutical products or warm salt water. Anesthetic products such as Chloraseptic might work to relieve pains but can be used only in children old enough to understand they must not swallow it. Herbal teas with lemon and honey are also indicated. Citrus juices will provide the body with vitamins but the result is usually better in case of viral infections.

The most used antibiotic for strep is penicillin, but other drugs like Amoxicillin have shown benefic results and better tolerance especially from children. Oral antibiotics must not be taken less than 10 days to ensure the strep does not come back or the body develops no resistance to it. If oral drugs show no real improvements or you cannot get to make your child swallow pills two or three times a day, Penicillin shots are always available and must be administered intramuscular once a day.