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Surviving "Strep"
More Than Just a Sore Throat
By Teri Brown
Like the Sembers, Lisa Easterling's family is very familiar with the symptoms and complications of strep. There have been times when her family had the illness every couple of months for an entire flu season.
Easterling not only uses traditional medicine to treat her family, but has recently begun to employ alternative treatments as well. "I've always thought it made sense that there should be natural ways to treat illness," says the mother of five from Brandon, Fla. "I did some reading and found that vitamin A deficiency may be linked to recurrent tonsillitis, so I added that to the vitamin C, garlic and zinc we normally use."
Dr. Judith A. Guzman-Cottrill, of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Department of Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, believes that penicillin is the drug of choice when it comes to treating strep throat. "This can be given as a one-time injection in the office," says Dr. Guzman-Cottrill. "It can also be treated with antibiotics by mouth; however, the oral treatment is a 10-day course of antibiotics. It is very important that your child completes all 10 days of antibiotics."
Missing a dose or two, or stopping after a couple of days when the symptoms clear, can give the remaining strep bacteria a chance to develop resistance to the antibiotic. It can then come back with a worse infection. After the first 24 hours of antibiotic treatment your child can be considered non-contagious, though basic safety precautions, such as frequent hand-washing, should be taken when caring for any sick child.
It's important to make your child as comfortable as possible while they are recovering from strep throat. "Strep throat can make eating painful," says Dr. Guzman-Cottrill. "Soft foods such as mashed potatoes, applesauce and yogurts can be easier to eat, and cold foods such as ice cream, mild shakes and Popsicles can make your child's throat feel better. Plenty of liquids are very important, especially when your child is running a fever."
Acetaminophen or ibuprofen can temporarily relieve fever and pain. 
Never give your child aspirin, as it can cause Reyes syndrome and can be life threatening when it is used in children who have the flu. Gargling with warm salt water (1/4 teaspoon salt in 1 cup of warm water) can also help ease throat pain.
For Easterling, care goes beyond medications and soft foods. "Sometimes the old remedies truly are the best ones," she says. "There is nothing like serving up a warm bowl of fresh homemade chicken soup (with lots of garlic and black pepper) to a sick child, covering him/her with soft blankets and fluffy pillows. Skin-to-skin contact, a soothing voice and gentle kindness provide the perfect medicine. And one should never underestimate the healing properties of love!"
