Streptococcus

Strep caused by Streptococcus bacteria is a very common disease found in both children and adults. Streptococcus is usually found in your nose and throat causing discomfort stated by Mayo Clinic.


The English definition of symptoms is “A phenomenon that arises from and accompanies a particular disease or disorder and serves as an indication of it.”. The disease known as strep has many symptoms.


Symptoms founded from WebMd and Center for Disease Control include:

  • Sore throat

  • Coughing

  • Severe pain when swallowing

  • Fever of 101 and above

  • Headaches

  • Vomiting

  • Yellow patches including bacteria in the back of your throat


There are many ways to prevent this agonizing disease such as washing your hands, since the disease is infectious washing your hands after being around people infected with the disease is a good idea because of the bacteria and viruses that can be spread to you as mentioned by The Virus and MedlinePlus. If you have to be around the ill person do not share utensils or cups to make sure the disease is not distributed to you. The ill person should avoid coughing or sneezing on others to not disperse the illness. Remember that there are no ways to prevent this disease because there are no vaccines yet invented. When you feel better and strep is behind you be sure to change your toothbrush so that the germs that were caused by the disease aren't coming back to haunt you. If you still don't feel better though then you should stay home away from school and work until you have taken antibiotics for at least one day. According to White Blood Cells antibiotics will help your immune system and your white blood cells fight off the bacteria and viruses the disease has caused to develop. Don't forget
that antibiotics do lower your immune system after so be careful when using them and only use the amount prescribed by a doctor.

Do you think the disease isn't in your system? Well it is! According to White Blood Cells.The disease is based on a cellular level which means how does the disease work with cells and your immune system? When a virus goes into your system it has little “keys” attached to it and if the doorway of the surface which has “locks” matches with the keys the immune system control room opens to the virus and welcomes it inn. The cells protect the virus and the virus is shown as a harmless cell. When the cells are gone the virus breaks into little “feather” like twigs and when the virus touches the control room it practically tells the system to produce more virus cells and the system makes identical copies again and again until the immune system which senses the disturbance gulps the virus one by one until they all are gone! On the other hand there is a bacteria which hides deep in your vessels. When a special type of white blood cell called Neutrophil senses the chemicals the bacteria leaves off they go to the site and eat the bacteria. When it kills all the bacteria it served its purpose and departs into little particles which the other white blood cells can eat to make them stronger. You see that your immune system is like a small but big military force and if hacked into can lead to horrific things but always goes back to normal eventually. 

There are many causes for strep throat, more commonly through children. “But why through children most?” Important question!, the cause for strep to spread through children more commonly than adults and so on, is simply through school, as the bacteria streptococcus spreads easily through person to person when they are close together. The strep bacteria lives in your nose and mouth, if someone were to sneeze or cough on you, you could become easily be infected. Another way strep spreads is through foods and drinks, remember to eat your food, not others, and don’t share. According to DuPage Medical Group and KidsHealth.org strep bacteria commonly confused with viral infection, is not the cause of a soar throat but viral infection usually is. 

There are few treatments for this disease that might help but might not at first. Drink warm liquids, warmth on a sore throat is great but on the other hand you should also drink cold liquids and suck lollipops to help with your throat. Suck on hard candies but be careful because there is a hazard of choking in young children. You may also put in consideration of buying a spray that will numb your throat. Your doctor might also prescribe antibiotics, Penicillin and Amoxicillin are usually the preferred choice among doctors stated by Drugs.com.


Below is a narrated video we created about preventing strep, with a few pictures we took ourselves.

IMG_0153.mov