Strep Throat Symptoms in Babies

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Dr. David Hill and today we're going to be talking about Strep Throat symptoms in babies. The good news is for infants, that is children from birth to age twelve months, Strep Throat is a very, very rare infection. You maybe able to culture it occasionally from the throat but it's almost never that it's really causing disease. That's largely because babies are protected from the antibodies that they got from their mother's blood stream during the first year in life. So you almost never look for Strep Throat in a baby, because if you found it, you probably wouldn't believe that's what was causing the trouble. Now in toddlers, babies who are older than twelve months and usually not yet age two to three, Strep Throat is much more common. The most common symptom is fever, usually without a cough. The more cough a child has, the more likely he or she is to have a virus and not a Strep Throat. You may also notice swollen Lymph Nodes, usually here in the front part of the neck or along the sides. A sore throat is a common feature, but children don't always complain and the throat isn't always that ugly, even when you look at it. Additionally, there are lots of viruses and even allergies that can cause sore throats, that are not Strep. In fact, 85 percent of the Strep tests we do, come back negative, even in kids who seem like thy really should have Strep Throat. If you look at the throat, you may see Exudates, this white gunk on the back of the tonsils. And remember even if somebody's had a Tonsillectomy, they still can contract Strep Throat. So you just have to forget that whole tonsil thing and look for redness. Otherwise, feeling gritty, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, can all be a part of Strep Throat. If you have symptoms that worry you for a Strep Throat, you're going to need get a test. Some doctors will treat Strep Throat based on history and exam alone. But we generally don't condone this as a good idea. The idea is only to give antibiotics to people who really need them. And since many things can look a lot like Strep Throat and yet not be Strep, it's best to get a confirmatory test. Now this can be done in most medical offices within five minutes with a rapid test. But when the rapid test is negative, we can also send a culture to a lab, or even in some offices they do them there. Where they can grow the Strep and make sure that it's not present. So remember, fever, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes and absence of a cough are all hallmark signs of Strep Throat. Along with headache, belly pain, vomiting, diarrhea and general malaise. Talking about symptoms of Strep Throat in babies, I'm Dr. David Hill."