Untreated strep throat feels like a sudden, very sore throat with painful swallowing, fever, red/swollen tonsils (often with white patches), headache, body aches, and swollen neck glands, often without a cough, leaving you feeling generally miserable or "hit by a truck". While it can start with these flu-like symptoms, the real danger of untreated strep is severe, long-term complications like rheumatic fever (affecting heart, joints, brain) or kidney issues (glomerulonephritis), which develop weeks later.
Strep throat accounts for only a small portion of sore throats. If untreated, strep throat can cause complications, such as kidney inflammation or rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever can lead to painful and inflamed joints, a specific type of rash, or heart valve damage.
Swelling, redness, and white patches are common symptoms of strep throat. Less common symptoms, especially for children, may include: Headache. Nausea or vomiting.
Strep throat is a bacterial infection that causes sore throat, fever, headache and stomach pain. It is contagious and can be treated with antibiotics.
How long does strep throat last? Most cases of strep throat last three to five days. It's important to remember that treatment with antibiotics is strongly recommended to reduce transmission, ease symptoms and avoid complications.
As mentioned before, allowing strep throat to run its course without the use of antibiotics may cause a higher risk of complications, such as rheumatic fever, especially in children.
Symptoms of strep throat
Symptoms can be many and can include:
Viral illnesses that can cause sore throat that may be mistaken for strep throat include:
Common symptoms of strep A include: flu-like symptoms, such as a high temperature, swollen glands or an aching body. sore throat (strep throat or tonsillitis) a rash that feels rough, like sandpaper (scarlet fever)
It's also not uncommon for children to experience gastrointestinal issues as the first sign of strep throat. Symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain may indicate the contagious disease.
This combination of symptoms may be GERD/reflux, strep pharyngitis (especially in kids), viral pharyngitis, tonsillitis, gastroenteritis, food poisoning with vomiting, and alcohol overuse/abuse.
There are additional risks to letting a strep infection go untreated. Bacterial infections that resist the body's own immune response are likely to spread to other areas. Other possible complications of an untreated strep infection include: Infection spreading to the ears, tonsils, sinuses or lymph nodes.
6 complications of untreated strep throat
PANDAS is a specific type of PANS that is believed to be caused by a strep infection. When the immune system fights the infection, it may mistakenly attack healthy areas of the body—including the brain—which can lead to the sudden development of OCD, tics, and other symptoms of PANDAS.
Symptoms of sepsis
Fast, shallow breathing. Sweating for no clear reason. Feeling lightheaded. Shivering.
Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) is a rapidly progressing infection involving shock and multi-organ failure. Diagnosing STSS can be difficult and patients are often misdiagnosed. Treatment focuses on addressing issues with shock and specific organs that are failing.
The evidence behind the “golden hour” protocol
The main finding was that patients who received antibiotics within the first hour of sepsis recognition had a 79.9% chance of survival. It was also found that with every additional hour, the chance of survival decreased by 7.6%.
Most patients with strep throat feel worse for 2-3 days before they begin to feel better. Strep throat typically resolves on its own within 7-10 days. Typically, strep throat can last for 7- 10 days. Strep throat symptoms improve between the third and fourth day.
Get a new toothbrush after 2 or 3 days, but before finishing the antibiotics. Otherwise, the bacteria can live on the toothbrush and reinfect you when the antibiotics are done.
Yes, strep throat can often resolve on its own, as the body fights off the Streptococcus bacteria, but it's generally not recommended to skip antibiotics because untreated strep carries serious risks like rheumatic fever (causing heart damage), kidney inflammation, and abscesses, and antibiotics quickly relieve symptoms and stop spreading the highly contagious infection. While symptoms may improve in a few days without treatment, the bacteria can linger, causing complications and making you contagious for longer (up to three weeks), whereas antibiotics clear the infection within about 24 hours.
Some common ones are rhinovirus (common cold), flu, adenovirus, and coronaviruses, like COVID-19. These typically lead to redness and rawness in the back of the throat. One virus that really mimics strep throat is the Epstein-Barr virus, the virus that causes mono.
Centor criteria include fever ≥ 38 °C, absence of cough, swollen anterior cervical lymph nodes and tonsillar exudates or swelling. One point is added for each criterion. The Centor scores might range from 0 to 4 (10).