How to Deal with Strep Throat

Strep throat is annoying, but it's also pretty common as a childhood ailment. For parents of young children, this means it's a common foe that you have to deal with too. If you have strep throat in your house, you can spend a lot of time on the round robin of passing it from family member to family member. So take these steps to get off that merry-go-round.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Antiobiotics
• Doctor's Appointment
• Hand sanitizer
• Lysol
• Time to clean

1. Wash your hands frequently. When you have an infection or virus in the house, washing your hands frequently is a positive step towards preventing passing the infection or virus from one family member to another.

2. Keep a dish tub in the sink with a cap full of bleach in the water. Deposit all dishes into this tub before washing. Bleach kills the virus or bacteria and protects you from catching it from others.

3. Spray down surfaces with lysol or wipe them down with disinfectant regularly. Don't share pillows, blankets or dishes with the sick person.

4. Wash all bedsheets 24 to 48 hours after beginning antibiotics. This reduces chances for reinfection. Fresh sheets or laundering current sheets helps eliminate the infection in the house.

5. Buy a new toothbrush or sanitize your toothbrushes to prevent reinfecting yourself. You can sanitize your toothbrush by washing it in the dishwasher or using a 1% bleach solution with water on the toothbrush followed by cleaning it in the dishwasher. You should be replacing your toothbrush every three months, so replacing it might be easier.

Tips & Warnings

• If you suspect strep throat, see the doctor to get on a course of antibiotics.
• Avoid kissing sick children on the mouth and encourage them to keep hands away from their faces.
• Wash hands frequently.
• Sanitize all surfaces frequently to prevent spreading infection