Can Strep Throat Turn Into Bronchitis?
There is no evidence of strep throat turning into bronchitis.
The causative agent of strep throat is named Streptococcus pygenes. This bacterium is not associated with bronchitis.
However, infection with Streptococcus pyogenes can lead to pneumonia [1].
What is a Strep Throat Infection?
Strep throat is a bacterial infection that causes inflammation and pain in the throat. It is caused by the group A Streptococcus bacterium, specifically Streptococcus pyogenes . Strep throat can affect anyone but, most commonly it affects children, especially between the ages 5 and 15
How Can I Get Strep Throat?
Strep throat is highly contagious. You can get it in two ways. One is the airborne path. When an infected individual sneezes or coughs, droplets with the bacteria get into the air around. While you breathe, they can get into your throat [3].
You can also get infected through close contact. The pathogen can be transferred to you when you share the silverware with the infected person. You can also get infected when you kiss a person with strep throat [3].
What are the Symptoms of Strep Throat?
The symptoms of strep throat can vary. The typical presentation of strep throat includes:
- Sudden onset of a sore throat [4]
- Pain when swallowing [4]
- Fever [4]
- White patches or streaks of pus on red and swollen tonsils [2, 5, 4, 6, 7].
- Small red spots on the roof of the mouth [2]
- Swollen lymph nodes in the neck [2, 4, 6]
Additionally, you can also have a headache, stomach ache, and nausea. It is also possible that you will have vomiting [2, 5, 4, 6].
You can also experience scarlet fever. This is characterized by a rush on your skin. That rush is red and consists of many small red dots. It can start on your face and later progress to your arms, chest, and abdomen [4].
How Can I Diagnose Strep Throat?
At the doctor's office, the physician will assess your throat, lymph nodes, and rushes [8].
An experienced doctor can diagnose you based only on your symptoms and illness history. However, there can be cases where it can be unclear to the best doctors.
To confirm the diagnosis of strep throat, the physician can do a bacterial culture. For the results of the culture, you have to wait around one to two days [8].
Also, a rapid strep test can be performed. It is cheaper and faster, but less specific and sensitive than the bacteria culture. This test may show a false negative [9].
You can do the rapid-strep tests on your own. However, remember that a trained person minimizes the error rate of this testing.
What is the Treatment for Strep Throat?
Treatment of strep throat is mainly based on antibiotics. Your doctor can prescribe you penicillin or amoxicillin. If you are allergic to penicillin, you will get, for example, azithromycin [3].
To relieve the symptoms, you can use many natural remedies. You don’t need a prescription for those. One of the most important things you can do is drink a lot of fluids. For headaches, you can use over-the-counter painkillers.
Do I Need to See a Doctor When I Have Strep Throat?
Strep throat is a bacterial infection. To treat bacterial infections quickly and effectively, you need to take antibiotics. To get a prescription, you need to see a doctor.
Remember that many diseases have the same symptoms and can present similarly. Medical professionals are trained to differentiate between many similar-looking diseases. Therefore, to confirm that you have strep throat, you need to see a doctor.
A perfect time to see your physician is when the symptoms persist for a couple of days. Sometimes, when the symptoms are severe, you should come to see your doctor even earlier.
In cases where you have severe symptoms, you should see the doctor as soon as possible. Indications for making an appointment soon include: fever risking above 102.6°F (39.2°C), problems with breathing or eating, intensive pains that are not going away [10].
What are the Complications of Untreated Strep Throat?
Untreated strep throat can lead to several serious complications. Here are the possible complications of untreated strep throat:
- Ear infection [3],
- Sinusitis [3],
- Pneumonia [3],
- Peritonsillar abscess [3],
- Rheumatic fever [10],
- Post-streptococcal reactive arthritis [3],
- Poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis [11],
- Bacteremia [3],
- Meningitis [3],
- Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with Streptococci (PANDAS) [3],
- Scarlet fever [10],
- Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome [3].