Strep Throat - Treatment Overview

Treatment Overview

Antibiotics such as penicillin, cephalexin, or amoxicillin are used to treat strep throat. Antibiotics are effective only against bacterial infections such as strep throat and will not speed the healing of sore throats caused by viral infections such as colds or allergies.

Strep throat will go away in 3 to 7 days with or without treatment. Antibiotics are effective in relieving the symptoms of strep throat only if they are given within 48 to 72 hours after symptoms begin. However, antibiotics are commonly used to treat strep throat because they:

• Kill the bacteria and shorten the time you are contagious. You are usually no longer contagious 24 to 48 hours after starting antibiotics.
• Prevent rare complications. Although uncommon, strep bacteria can spread to other parts of your body causing ear or sinus infections or an abscess behind or around the tonsils (peritonsillar abscess). Antibiotics may also prevent the infection from triggering your immune system to attack itself and cause serious conditions such as rheumatic fever.
• Relieve discomfort and speed healing to some degree.

Antibiotic treatment can begin immediately if a strep infection is confirmed by a rapid strep test. However, there is no harm in waiting for the results of a throat culture to confirm strep throat before starting antibiotic treatment. In fact, it is better to wait until strep throat has been confirmed so that antibiotics are not used unnecessarily: overuse of antibiotics can make them ineffective.

• Although waiting to treat strep throat prolongs the time you can have the illness, delaying treatment does not increase the risk of rheumatic fever or other complications.
• The benefit of delaying the start of antibiotic treatment for a day or two is that your body is able to build up its own immunity to the infection, possibly reducing future occurrences of strep infection. It also reduces the chance of building a resistance to antibiotics.⁴

Your health professional also may recommend nonprescription medicines such as acetaminophen or anesthetic throat sprays to help relieve the pain and discomfort and reduce fever caused by strep throat.