Is your sore throat always infective?

 Sorethroat is one of the commonest complaints with which we visit our medical practitioner .We are all worried about infections & many of us land up with antibiotics.Many times I have met patients in my practice who come with begining of sore throat & are so concerned about missing work or infecting their near & dear ones that they request antibiotics.Am I justified in prescribing antibiotics?Is paracetamol with good gargling enough?

Sorethroat with fever & malaise (tiredness/bodypains) is usually infective.This infection can be viral or bacterial.Oral cavity already has some bacteria living in it which can add to viral infection.So even in viral sorethroats sometimes we land up giving antibiotics.We should be careful about severe sorethroats which presents with swallowing difficulty .Careful examination to rule out peritonsillar abscess(pus around tonsils) should be done.If no abscess & still not responding to antibiotics ,it can very well be Glandular fever or Infectious Mononucleosis.This is of viral origin & in worst form needs steroids.This can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome in some cases.

Now lets talk about milder sorethroats which crop up often say every month-are we missing something?A thorough examintion by your doctor will rule our any seroius causes like ulcers/tumours.
Most of the rest regular sorethroats are acid refluxes.It can be symptomatic acid reflux-many patients when asked direct questions realise it,some may have silent refluxes.

Not eating on time & of course eating wrong foods contribute to these sorethroats.Its common nowadays in professionals working odd hours (US/Europe timings) & they land up with wrong food habits.Excess of caffienne contributes to this.

In a nutshell -eat on time --avoid spicy /fried foods -good sleep along with regular mouth hygeine should be followed.

Above is a general & rather a preventive note -you should visit your doctor for advice if any concerns.