HealthInfo Waitaha Canterbury
Sore throat
Korokoro mamae
Sore throats are very common, especially in tamariki (children) and rangatahi (teenagers).
Most sore throats are caused by viruses and get better by themselves with no treatment other than pain relief.
But some sore throats are caused by a bacteria called streptococcus (strep-toe-kok-us). This is called strep throat, and your general practice team can treat it with antibiotics. In a few cases, strep throat leads to a more serious illness called rheumatic fever.
You are at more risk of rheumatic fever if:
- you or someone in your family or household has had rheumatic fever before
- you or your child fit two or more of these descriptions:
- Māori or Pacific
- 3 to 35 years old
- live in poor or crowded conditions.
Important
If you or your tamaiti (child) have a high risk for rheumatic fever, see a health professional to check any sore throat within 1 or 2 days. If your health professional prescribes antibiotics for your sore throat, it is important to take them all for the entire 10 days. This is to stop you getting rheumatic fever, which can damage your heart.
If you or your tamaiti have a sore throat with a runny nose, cough, hoarse voice and a headache, you may have a cold or the flu. If you or your tamaiti have a cold or the flu, you may also have a fever and swollen neck glands.
Causes of sore throat
Most sore throats are caused by:
- cold or flu viruses
- glandular fever (Epstein-Barr virus) in rangatahi
- a bacterial infection, especially with streptococcus (strep throat)
- tonsillitis.
Diagnosing sore throat
Most sore throats do not need any tests.
You may have a swab taken from your throat to check for strep throat.
If your health professional thinks you might have glandular fever, they will take a blood test.
Treating sore throat
Most sore throats get better after 2 or 3 days and go away completely in 7 to 10 days without any treatment. If you have strep throat, you will need to take antibiotics for 10 days. It is important to finish them all to stop you getting rheumatic fever.
Self-care with sore throat
- Take pain relief such as paracetamol or ibuprofen.
- Drink plenty of fluids.
- Suck on ice cubes or lozenges.
- Older tamariki and adults can gargle warm salt water. But make sure you spit it out and do not swallow the salt water.
- Avoid smoking or smoky places.
- Get rest.
See your general practice team if you or your tamaiti:
- have difficulty breathing
- cannot swallow saliva, which may cause dribbling
- cannot get enough fluids
- have severe pain
- have an ongoing high fever
- are not improving after two days
- have earache or joint pain.
HealthInfo recommends the following pages
- KidsHealth – Sore throat
Information about the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of sore throats.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed October 2023.
Sources
See also:
Eating and drinking when you are unwell
Fever (high temperature) in children
Review key: HISTT-17240
