Can Strep Throat be Prevented?

Strep throat or streptococcal pharyngitis is a bacterial infection caused by the streptococcal bacteria. It is often confused with a sore throat. I must bring to your notice that strep throat and sore throat may have similar symptoms, but they are two different concepts. A sore throat is viral while a strep throat is bacterial.

A person suffering from a sore throat experiences irritation and pain in the throat. Similarly, a person having a throat infection also experiences irritation and pain in the throat. But, as these are two different concepts, one must remember that it has different preventive measures and different medication solutions as well.

This story shall tell you how can strep throat be prevented.

Strep throat can be accompanied by fever, cough and cold. Strep throat usually has severe symptoms than sore throat. A person who is about to catch a throat infection will experience symptoms like swollen lymph nodes, white or yellow spots on the tonsils, pain while swallowing, skin rashes all over the body, nausea, fever, muscle pain or loss of appetite.

To avoid this, prevention is the best idea. You can follow the following preventive measures to avoid being infected.

We have been taught right from the school days that we must not forget to wash our hands and legs with soap after we return home. Do you still stick to that habit? If not, then it is the right time to begin doing that. When you leave the house, you tend to visit innumerable places that may be unclean, unsafe or impure.

You also eat outside food not knowing whether it was covered, clean or cooked in good oil. Hence, the basic preventive measures start from your personal hygiene manners.

Make sure you cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze, cough or even yawn. That will not only protect you from severe infections but also protect others from getting infected. Every person has certain personal items that he uses everyday.

Items like toothbrush, comb, lip balms, garments or even the glass of drinking water should not be shared among friends or family. If you do, then there are maximum chances of you getting infected very soon.

Avoid drinking chilled water from the refrigerator every now and then. Make sure you don't sit, stand or sleep beside a person who has cough, cold or fever. Also, do not touch sick or ill people. If you visit a hospital for any reason, do make it a point to have a bath the moment you come home.

Especially, if you have little resistance power, then you must take more care of the above mentioned things. Apart from these, a properly balanced diet and sufficient sleep will keep you fresh and healthy.

Managing your activities in time can reduce stress levels and thus increase your resistance power. Strong defense mechanism in your body protects you from catching viral and bacterial infections. On the other hand, if you smoke, stop it at once.

Smoking affects your throat tissues and causes irritation in the throat. If a person is smoking next to you, better leave that place soon as there are strong chances of you getting infected by that smoke.

Doctors say that no disease can be "prevented" using antibiotics, but can be "cured or treated". A strep throat cannot be diagnosed only by looking at the throat. Certain lab tests are required for determining it. Once the reports are positive, a person is said to be infected.

A doctor might suggest going for a short antibiotic course to prevent rheumatic fever which can accompany a strep throat. Also, antibiotics is the only medication. It takes more than a week to get rid of this throat infection.

But to prevent the disease as a whole, cleanliness habits are the only way out. Unnecessary use of antibiotics is very harmful for the human body. There may be a stage where the bacteria inside your body become used to antibiotic medicines and thereby become resistant germs. Hence, antibiotic preventive measures should not be tried without a doctor's consultation.

Lastly, one must remember, your health is in your hands. The cleaner you stay, the stronger you become! I hope you are clear with the preventive measures of strep throat disease. Stay healthy, stay fit!