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Suggest Treatment For Sore Throat, Pustules Behind And At The Side Of Throat
Question: I am a 71 year old women who started with what seemed like common sore throat 6 days ago. It has progressively gotten worse. I have white pus pockets in the back & side of my throat, swollen lymph glands, a fever of 99.6 (I'm hypothyroid), and can barely swallow. It is so painful I cannot even eat jello without it hurting. Any suggestions?
YYYY@YYYY XXXXXXX
YYYY@YYYY XXXXXXX
Brief Answer:
Go to an urgent care clinic or your doctor for a strep test.
Detailed Answer:
With the symptoms you are describing, there is a strong change that you have strep throat. It will cause white pus pockets, a very sore throat, fever, and swollen lymph nodes in the neck.
Please go to a clinic where you can be seen promptly. They should do a swab of the back of your throat. From this they can do a test in the office or clinic called a Rapid Strep test. This is a fairly accurate test for strep throat. If it is negative, the sample should be sent for a culture, which will grow out strep if any is on the swab. This takes a couple of days.
I tend to be fairly conservative about prescribing antibiotics as it is a bad idea for several reasons to use antibiotics when not necessary. But strep throat is a reason to definitely use an antibiotic as strep throat untreated runs the risk of rheumatic fever which can damage the heart. I don't want to scare you, I just want to explain why it is important to be evaluated for the possibility of strep throat.
Providing you are not allergic to antibiotics in the penicillin family, strep throat should be treated with either Penicillin or Amoxicillin. It should not be treated with a cephalosporin or Z-pack (azithromycin) unless you are allergic to penicillin.
So please go be seen as soon as possible. It's possible that it is a viral throat infection, but strep needs to be ruled out.
Go to an urgent care clinic or your doctor for a strep test.
Detailed Answer:
With the symptoms you are describing, there is a strong change that you have strep throat. It will cause white pus pockets, a very sore throat, fever, and swollen lymph nodes in the neck.
Please go to a clinic where you can be seen promptly. They should do a swab of the back of your throat. From this they can do a test in the office or clinic called a Rapid Strep test. This is a fairly accurate test for strep throat. If it is negative, the sample should be sent for a culture, which will grow out strep if any is on the swab. This takes a couple of days.
I tend to be fairly conservative about prescribing antibiotics as it is a bad idea for several reasons to use antibiotics when not necessary. But strep throat is a reason to definitely use an antibiotic as strep throat untreated runs the risk of rheumatic fever which can damage the heart. I don't want to scare you, I just want to explain why it is important to be evaluated for the possibility of strep throat.
Providing you are not allergic to antibiotics in the penicillin family, strep throat should be treated with either Penicillin or Amoxicillin. It should not be treated with a cephalosporin or Z-pack (azithromycin) unless you are allergic to penicillin.
So please go be seen as soon as possible. It's possible that it is a viral throat infection, but strep needs to be ruled out.
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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