Reality check: Why you don’t need to worry about streptococcal infection

WATCH: Dr. Samir Gupta explains why parents of young children shouldn’t be concerned about streptococcal infection.

More On Call with Dr. Samir Gupta stories on Globalnews.ca

TORONTO – The virus responsible for killing a three-year-old boy is the same one that causes strep throat.

Though, the virus is fairly common, parents of young children shouldn’t stress over it.

In fact, 20 per cent of school-aged children carry this bug in their system, without any symptoms at all.

The bug can cause infections in certain people for unknown reasons. The most common infections include non-serious skin infections and throat infections – which we call strep throat.

So what caused the fatal reaction? We don’t know the details of this case, but I suspect it was a more serious (or “invasive”) infection such as pneumonia.

Group A Strep can sometimes trigger an unusual response by the immune system, which can lead to complications like rheumatic fever  (which can affect the heart), and toxic shock syndrome, which affects the circulation system and can lead to death.

But parents shouldn’t be worried.

Any time something like this happens, there is obviously a lot of concern among parents, children, and the medical community.

Group A Strep is a highly contagious organism which can spread through direct contact but I would reassure parents that even when we do see outbreaks, they are usually the milder infections, and chances of a severe infection or complication is still very low.

Even if kids do get infected, most recover within 3 or 4 days, even without antibiotics.

Five things you need to know about your sore throat

1. What is the most common cause of a sore throat? 

The medical term for a sore throat is pharyngitis, or tonsillopharyngitis (when it also involves the tonsils), and most cases are caused by viruses, and do not require treatment.

Only 5 to 15 per cent of adults with pharyngitis actually grow strep , and we still can’t be sure that all of them got sick because of the strep, because some are just carriers.

2. How do I differentiate a viral throat infection from bacterial infection? 

Both bacteria and viruses cause sore throat and redness, but there are 4 key signs that suggest it’s a  bacterial infection:  the tonsils produce whitish material, the glands in the neck become swollen and tender, people get  a fever, and people do not get a cough.

3. When do I need to be tested for a bacterial infection?

We recommend testing if you have at least 3 of those 4 features. If you have a sore throat and a cough but no fever, you don’t need to be tested unless things change.

4. How is testing performed? 

In people who do have at least three of those criteria, we recommend a rapid streptococcal antigen test, a quick throat swab which will tell you within hours if the bacteria are present.

To know for certain, we have to perform a throat culture, but we prefer the rapid test because a throat culture can take 24-48 hours to come back.

5. When do I need antibiotics for a throat infection?

Because viruses are a much more common cause of infection, and because overuse of antibiotics is creating more and more resistance, people shouldn’t get antibiotics unless they have a positive rapid strep test or culture.  Sometimes we start therapy if we really think it’s strep, but we stop it right away if the antigen test comes back negative.