Q. What does positive strep test mean?
Hi doctor, I am 24 years old. I have had a sore throat every day for almost a month. I had antibiotics already, but it did not work. What could be wrong with me? It is chronic and I have been more tired with this. Sometimes, I am getting a fever and belly pain. My laboratory test showed strep test positive. What to do now? Please help.
Hello. I understand that you have done strep test, which is a rapid test to find out whether the pharyngitis has bacterial origin. The strep test is positive and this means most probably the Streptococcus pyogenes detected in your throat is the causative organism for the pharyngitis. The strep throat infection has to be treated with appropriate antibiotics. I suggest you take a course of Amoxicillin and Clavulanic acid (625 mg) twice daily after food. Take supportive treatment in the form of salt water gargling of the throat, anti-inflammatory and pain killer tablets. Also avoid spicy, oily and masala-rich foods, which aggravate the throat irritation. As a painkiller, I suggest tablet Paracetamol 650 mg twice a day. Anti-inflammatory tablets are combinations of trypsin-chymotrypsin enzymes. If you do not get relieved with this antibiotic, then I suggest you go ahead with a throat swab culture and sensitivity. That will tell us about the details of the antibiotics to which the organism is susceptible and resistant. With your blood pressure values, I see that they are towards the higher side. However, if it was measured using a digital BP apparatus, it is bound to be erroneous. Kindly visit your GP and get your BP checked. Manual measurement of BP is the preferred method. At your age, it is unlikely that you have this high BP. For further information consult an ENT otolaryngologist online -->