National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
  National Institutes of Health
NIAID Home Health & Science Research Funding Research News & Events Labs at NIAID About NIAID

Health & Science
 Health & Science Topics
 Publications
 Clinical Studies


Strep Throat
 Index
 Overview
 Cause
 Transmission
 Symptoms
 Diagnosis
 Treatment

Strep Throat

Treatment

If you have strep throat, your healthcare provider will prescribe an antibiotic. This will help lessen symptoms. After 24 hours of taking the medicine, you will no longer be able to spread the infection to others. Treatment will also reduce the chance of complications.

Current guidelines by expert groups recommend penicillin as the medicine of choice for treating strep throat because penicillin has been proven to be effective, safe, and inexpensive. Your healthcare provider may instruct you to the take pills for 10 days or give you a shot. If you are allergic to penicillin there are other antibiotics your healthcare provider can give you to clear up the illness.

During treatment, you may start to feel better within 4 days. This can happen even without treatment. Still, it is very important to finish all your medicine to prevent complications.

previous link Diagnosis | Index

See Also

Understanding Group A Streptococcal Infections 

Faringitis bacteriana (PDF) [en español]

Search in Health & Science
 
E-mail Icon E-mail this page
Print Icon Print this page

See Also

Understanding Group A Streptococcal Infections 

Faringitis bacteriana (PDF) [en español]