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Why Is Strep Throat Common in Kids?

Strep throat, it's one of those things parents immediately think their kid has when their kid says they have a sore throat and it hurts to swallow. Strep is most common in kids ages 5 to 15, mainly because they are in school and they tend to share things that go in their mouths, like food and drinks. It usually takes about two to five days after someone has been exposed to strep to develop symptoms.

Symptoms of Strep Throat

Kids who have strep often have more than just throat pain. They'll also have red spots on the back of their throat, and that's called palatal petechiae. Their tonsils are usually red and can have a white coating called exudate. Their tonsillar lymph nodes are swollen too. And they can also have a stomachache or a rash.

Scarlet Fever

If they have a rash that looks like a sunburn over their body and the rash feels like sandpaper, that's when strep throat becomes scarlet fever. Parents often get super concerned when they hear scarlet fever because it brings up when strep wasn't treated and patients were at risk for scary things like rheumatic fever. But it's basically a strep throat with a rash and treated the same way.

When Should Your Child Get Tested for Strep Throat?

Since we have been able to test for strep, the incidence of rheumatic fever has gone way down. Your child's doctor, unfortunately, can't just look at a throat and say definitively if a child has strep. Adenovirus can present the same way, for example, and so can Epstein-Barr virus, which is mononucleosis or mono.

The only way a provider can tell if your child has strep is to do a strep test. So if your child has a sore throat, any of those other findings, a few other viral symptoms, like a cough or runny nose, and you think your child might have strep, it's best to take them to their doctor for a strep test. The sooner your child is tested and treated, if they do have strep, the faster they will get better and the lower the risk of spreading it to others.