BACTERIA ALERT!

Alright, so there has been a wide alert on the Strepthroat virus which has presumably affected milions of throats worldwide. I was diagnosed Strep throat positive, which is a fancy "doctor-unfriendly" word to say i've got it! Here is some bassic input from an article published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" that provides background knowlage on the funking sounding bacteria, symptoms and some other interesting facts on its confusing neighbor, the SORE THROAT! muahaha. Enjoy.

Strep throat is very common among kids and teens. Symptoms of strep throat include fever, stomach pain, and red, swollen tonsils.Strep throat usually requires treatment with antibiotics. With the proper medical care — along with plenty of rest and fluids — your child should be back to school and play within a few days.

How Strep Throat Spreads
Anybody can get strep throat, but it's most common in school-age kids and teens. These infections occur most often during the school year when big groups of kids and teens are in close quarters.
The bacteria that cause strep throat (group A streptococcus) tend to hang out in the nose and throat, so normal activities like sneezing, coughing, or shaking hands can easily spread infection from one person to another.
That's why it's so important to teach kids the importance of hand washing — good hygiene can lessen their chances of getting contagious diseases like strep throat.

Strep Throat vs. Sore Throat
Not all sore throats are strep throats. Most episodes of sore throat — which can be accompanied by a runny nose, cough, hoarseness, and red eyes — are caused by viruses and usually clear up on their own without medical treatment.
A child with strep throat will start to develop other symptoms within about 3 days, such as:
-red and white patches in the throat
-difficulty swallowing
-tender or swollen glands (lymph nodes) in the neck
-red and enlarged tonsils
-headache
-lower stomach pain
-fever
-general discomfort, uneasiness, or ill feeling
-loss of appetite and nausea
-rash

Treatment
In most cases, doctors prescribe about 10 days of antibiotic medication to treat strep throat. Within about 24 hours after starting on antibiotics, your child will probably no longer have a fever and won't be contagious. By the second or third day after taking antibiotics, the other symptoms should start to go away, too.