Is Strep Throat an Urgent Care Matter?

Strep throat is a bacterial infection of the throat and tonsils caused by group A Streptococcus (specifically S. pyogenes), and it can easily be picked up from an infected person, especially in crowded conditions like daycare or school.

The infection spreads through droplets in the air that form when someone with the infection coughs or sneezes. It can also spread through shared food or drinks, or if you touch a surface with the bacteria then touch your nose, mouth, or eyes.

Strep throat is more common in children than adults, especially for kids in the 5-15 age group.

Led by Dr. Arbi Ayvazian, the team at Rapid Response Urgent Care in Granada Hills, California, offers urgent care and walk-in services, including diagnosis and treatment of strep throat. If you’re concerned that your child may have strep, a quick trip to our office can give you rapid care and peace of mind. Here’s what you need to know about the infection and how we treat it.

Is your sore throat really strep?

Strep causes just a small percentage of sore throats; only about 1 in 10 adults and 3 in 10 children who have a sore throat have strep throat. That’s why you need to get tested to know for sure.

Symptoms develop 2-5 days after exposure to the bacterium, and they may include:

• Fever
• Severe pain when swallowing
• Red, swollen tonsils
• Sore throat that started very quickly and may appear red
• Swollen lymph nodes in the front of the neck
• Tiny, red spots on the roof of the mouth (petechiae)
• White patches or streaks of pus on the tonsils

Without treatment, a strep infection may lead to inflammatory illnesses, including:

• Scarlet fever: a streptococcal infection distinguished by a prominent rash
• Kidney inflammation (poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis)
• Rheumatic fever: a serious inflammatory condition that targets the heart, joints, nervous system, and skin
• Poststreptococcal reactive arthritis: causes inflammation of the joints

These potentially serious issues are why it’s so important to get tested and treated.

Diagnosing strep throat

Urgent care is a great place to go when you suspect you or your child may have strep throat, especially if it’s after normal business hours or on weekends.

When you come in, we perform a physical exam to look for signs and symptoms of strep throat, and we’ll most likely order one or more of the following tests:

Rapid antigen test

For a rapid antigen test, we take a swab sample from your throat, and we get the results within minutes. The test looks for antigens — molecules specific to the strep bacteria — in your throat. If the test is positive, we start treatment. If it’s negative but we still suspect strep, we might do a throat culture.

Throat culture

We use a sterile swab to rub the back of your throat and your tonsils to get a sample of the secretions. It's not a painful test, but you may gag a bit. We then culture the sample in a laboratory for the presence of bacteria, but results can take as long as two days to get back. We might start treatment before then, just in case.

Treating strep throat

If you test positive for strep, we prescribe an oral antibiotic. If you take it within 48 hours of when you first noticed symptoms, it can reduce the length and severity of your symptoms, as well as decrease the risk of complications and spreading the illness to others.

With treatment, you or your child should start feeling better within 1-2 days. Call us if you don’t see any improvement after taking antibiotics for 48 hours.

Children who feel well and don't have a fever after taking an antibiotic can usually go back to school or childcare when they're no longer contagious, usually 24 hours after beginning treatment. It’s important, though, to finish all the medicine. If you stop it early, the illness may come back, and it can lead to complications.

At the same time, we may recommend you use over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers to ease the throat pain and bring down the fever.

If you or your child has a severe sore throat and your doctor isn’t available, urgent care is where you want to be. Rapid Response Urgent Care can diagnose and treat the problem so you feel better quickly. Walk in, call us at 818-923-5216, or book an appointment online today.