Strep throat in adults

Causes, symptoms and remedies

It is commonly thought that only children of school-going age can catch strep throat infection. It is not completely true, though. No doubt, it is common in teenagers and children, but people from any group age can catch this infection even very old people, young infants and toddlers. According to some reports, over six hundred million cases of strep throat occur worldwide per year.

The scientific name for strep throat is streptococcal pharyngitis. This is a bacterial infection which may cause by different bacteria like hemophilus influenza and staphylococcus, but the most commonly known culprit behind is Group A streptococcus bacteria. Five to ten percent cases of strep throat in adults are caused by these bacteria. This is a contagious infection that spreads with ease when the infected person sneezes or coughs. The bacteria can transfer from person to person more quickly if the infected person remains in contact with others. The Group A streptococcus bacteria are airborne. So, other people can easily get infected with these bacteria even by breathing in the same air with the infected person. That is why the ideal places for these bacteria to spread and make more and more people infected are, schools, military facilities and homes where people remain in close contacts with others. These bacteria take four to five days to incubate in the respiratory system. After this incubation period the symptoms become noticeable. The bacteria can live in your system for months!

Other reason of getting infected by these bacteria is unhealthy life style. Adults, who do not have healthy eating habits, do not take enough rest and sleep are more likely to get infected from streptococcus bacteria. The symptoms of strep throat in adults are: severely sore, irritated and red throat, difficulty in swallowing, extremely inflamed tonsils with white very painful spots, running nose and cough, dark red spots in mouth near throat, fever, fatigue, body ache and continuous headache with a feeling of heaviness in the head and eyes. The lymph glands in the neck can get swollen and pus can be formed when the infection gets worse.

If get worse and not treated well or remain untreated, strep throat in adults can become the cause of more severe ailments like kidney inflammation, middle ear infection, and acute rheumatic fever.

There are many natural remedies than can help to alleviate the symptoms and make you feel better quickly. Chamomile tea, fenugreek tea and lightly boiled black tea can help a lot. They make your body feel warmer, reduce the body aches, headaches and throat pain and help your body in fighting off the infectious bacteria. Honey has also been used as natural home remedy for strep throat for centuries. Honey, combined with the anti-inflammatory properties of black pepper and lemon juice cure the strep throat faster. Salty warm water gargle is very old and one of the best natural remedies of strep throat. Many herbs are used to treat strep throat like sage herb, slippery elm, licorice root, marshmallow root, honeysuckle flower, geranium herb, etc. Garlic, turmeric and ginger are also beneficial for the strep throat.

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