Can you have strep with no sore throat?

[sarahsthreads]

DD1 woke up Thursday AM with a decent fever (101.1) and coughing. I did give her some ibuprofen, but she spent most of the day feeling mostly OK. DH came home. I went to work. DH did not give her any ibuprofen before bed. She woke up about 45 minutes ago and her temp was back up to 102.4. So I'm staying up until her temperature goes back down to a reasonable level and she's sleeping more comfortably.

Anyway.

I emailed her teacher earlier about unrelated things, and she mentioned in her reply that I should consider having DD1 tested for strep because it's been going around the school and some of her classmates have been out for it in the last few days. However, DD1 *insists* that her throat doesn't hurt, she doesn't "feel sick", just that her legs feel like jelly, she hates coughing, and she's hot.

I don't want to drag her into the pediatrician's office to pick up more germs if it's not necessary, but I also don't want her spending the weekend miserable with strep if she's got it. Can you have strep with no sore throat?

WWYD?

Sarah :)

[crl]

Yes. You can have strep without a sore throat. Knew someone who's kid tested positive with no sore throat.

Catherine

[amldaley]

Yes.

The strep bacteria can actually cause infections and illnesses in other places than your throat including your joints and your brain. It is one of the reasons doctors are so specific that you must complete your course of antibiotics with strep even after you are feeling better.

I had strep twice over the winter of 08-09, once with no sore throat and once with no fever.

There is a decent write up here on various symptoms
http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/35/Strep-throat.html

[sarahsthreads]

OK, thanks. I think I'll call the pediatrician's office and ask them what I should do when they open in a bit - poor DD woke up with a fever of 102 again (about 8 hours after taking the ibuprofen last night) and now has no voice whatsoever. And it takes a good hour+ for her temperature to come down to something approaching more normal.

I'm not usually the kind of mom that heads to the ped on day 2 of a fever, but if it could be strep I'd like to know sooner rather than later!

Sarah :)

[Edensmum]

Yes, often there are no symptoms or stomach or headache but no sore throat. Get her cultured.

[Twoboos]

Yep, DD1 had it once w/no sore throat. She had a fever for a couple of days, I happened to catch a glimpse in the right light as she was taking her ibuprofen, and nearly fell over. It was fire engine red with white lines everywhere. When I brought her to the ped, the nurse took a look and almost didn't culture her, it was SO obvious. Nurse said she would quit her job if it wasn't strep, LOL. I felt like Mother of the Year.

And DD never said a word that her throat hurt.

[Puddy73]

Yes. We took DD1 to Urgent Care because she was complaining of an awful headache and it turned out to be a raging strep infection. She's a bit of a drama queen and definitely would have mentioned if her throat hurt, too. Hope your DD feels better soon!

[sarahsthreads]

OK, so now I'm torn. The nurse said that there is strep in the area, which is not especially wide-spread, but that there's also a 2-3 day high fever/cough/headache virus running rampant among their patients - and that parents keep calling because they've heard strep is going around but all the cultures have come back negative. She suggested waiting a day or two to see if the fever goes away before bringing her in for a culture, but that they'd certainly see us if I wanted. They do have Saturday AM walk-ins for exactly this sort of situation, so I'm thinking I'll wait and see how tonight goes.

(Seriously, if my children tag-team me again tonight, I'm going to cry...last night it was one with fever, the other with a nightmare, plus an acid-reflux attack because I stupidly drank decaf coffee at work last night. Sleep? What's that?)

Sarah :)

[erosenst]

Sorry you're going through this.

Two separate answers:

* You can definitely get strep without a sore throat...and sometimes without feeling sick at all. It recently happened to DD, which we found out when, after a fair amount of testing, we discovered she had a strep infection in her bladder.

* If DD is coughing, it's unlikely to be strep. I'd definitely agree with waiting it out, as difficult as that is. In the 'it could be worse' category, the virus going around here last fall was 5-7 days, sometimes longer. Hoping you avoided that one...

Also hoping you get some sleep - everything always seems worse without it.

[HIU8]

Yup, we have all had strep here with no symptoms at all (not even fever).

[jenmcadams]

* If DD is coughing, it's unlikely to be strep. I'd definitely agree with waiting it out, as difficult as that is. In the 'it could be worse' category, the virus going around here last fall was 5-7 days, sometimes longer. Hoping you avoided that one...


Just wanted to say this isn't always the case. My DD had strep last spring -- pretty severe case, the nurse said it was one of the fastest positive tests she'd seen. She also said that the cough my DD had (which was horrendous) was a classic strep cough :shrug:

This post is interesting to me though, b/c my DS just got strep for the first time this week (positive quick test yesterday) and while the antibiotics have kicked in and he's doing great, I'm worried about his sister. She's had a bad cold all week (actually was sick first), but no sore throat or fever and seems better today. I'm always second-guessing whether I should take them in and I keep wondering if I should take her in for a swab...we have house guests coming into town tonight, but I feel bad wasting the doctor's time since she seems better. I think I'm going to wait it out...our house guests are both MDs (a ped and a family practice doc), so maybe if it gets worse, they can take a look...

[robinsmommy]

It's not uncommon for little kids, preschool and under to get anal strep. Yep, strep bottom. And older kids can get it there too. It made the rounds at preschool last year......ugh, ugh, ugh.

[sunriseiz]

Sorry you're going through this.

Two separate answers:

* You can definitely get strep without a sore throat...and sometimes without feeling sick at all. It recently happened to DD, which we found out when, after a fair amount of testing, we discovered she had a strep infection in her bladder.

* If DD is coughing, it's unlikely to be strep. I'd definitely agree with waiting it out, as difficult as that is. In the 'it could be worse' category, the virus going around here last fall was 5-7 days, sometimes longer. Hoping you avoided that one...

Also hoping you get some sleep - everything always seems worse without it.


We actually took DD into the ped's office on Monday with an awful cough and low grade fever thinking brochitis or sinus infection. No sore throat or gi symptoms. They did a strep test 'just in case' and it was positive! No one was expecting it. I really expected them to say it was just a cold. We don't usually go in until we've waited a fairly long time, but this time I was really glad we jumped on it quickly.

Hope your DD is better soon!

[sarahsthreads]

We actually took DD into the ped's office on Monday with an awful cough and low grade fever thinking brochitis or sinus infection. No sore throat or gi symptoms. They did a strep test 'just in case' and it was positive! No one was expecting it. I really expected them to say it was just a cold. We don't usually go in until we've waited a fairly long time, but this time I was really glad we jumped on it quickly.

Hope your DD is better soon!

Ugh, now I'm really second guessing not taking her in. She keeps saying she thinks she's going to throw up, but then she doesn't. I don't know if it's just drainage kind of feeling icky in her throat & tummy, or if her tonsils are swollen and triggering her gag reflex, kwim?

And now it's only been 5 hours since I gave her ibuprofen and her fever is back on the rise. We have no tylenol in the house at the moment - everything I had was recalled at some point last year and I never replaced it because all the generics were sold out at the time - so I can't piggyback them. Gah. I'm going to have DH stop on his way home and stock up on some essentials!

Sarah :)

[Tondi G]

Ugh, now I'm really second guessing not taking her in. She keeps saying she thinks she's going to throw up, but then she doesn't. I don't know if it's just drainage kind of feeling icky in her throat & tummy, or if her tonsils are swollen and triggering her gag reflex, kwim?

And now it's only been 5 hours since I gave her ibuprofen and her fever is back on the rise. We have no tylenol in the house at the moment - everything I had was recalled at some point last year and I never replaced it because all the generics were sold out at the time - so I can't piggyback them. Gah. I'm going to have DH stop on his way home and stock up on some essentials!

Sarah :)

I would call and see if someone can see her today. Don't want to have it be something that need antibiotics and suffer through the weekend. everyone except DH is on antibiotics in our house.... I had that swollen, too much mucus, I feel kinda queezy feeling a few days into this sickness. It was a harsh one.... 4 days into antibiotics and I am finally not blowing green anymore.

hope she feels better soon.

[cckwmh]

both the high fever virus and strep are going around here. DD (who is 5 and not a complainer) had a fever that started last friday. it was up to 104 on sat with ibuprofen and acetominophen. her ped wouldn't see her until she had the fever for more than 72 hours. she had no other symptoms, denied a sore throat. she wasn't really eating but otherwise was acting normal. fast forward to tuesday, and she is still running a fever, lower, but hovering between 100-101 with meds. finally saw the pediatrician and she tested postive for strep. the line on the rapod strep was faint, but i did see it. i said something to the ped about how i wish I had insisted she be seen earlier, and she said the rapid strep would have been negative earlier and we would have had to wait for the culture results which take a couple of days, so she wouldn't have recieved antibiotics any earlier.

of note, it is friday, day 8 of fever ( around 101 when she wakes up, clears with ibuprofen and returns in the evening), and day 4 of antibiotics and she is still running a fever. she is going back tomorrow if she wakes up with a fever in the morning.

[sunriseiz]

both the high fever virus and strep are going around here. DD (who is 5 and not a complainer) had a fever that started last friday. it was up to 104 on sat with ibuprofen and acetominophen. her ped wouldn't see her until she had the fever for more than 72 hours. she had no other symptoms, denied a sore throat. she wasn't really eating but otherwise was acting normal. fast forward to tuesday, and she is still running a fever, lower, but hovering between 100-101 with meds. finally saw the pediatrician and she tested postive for strep. the line on the rapod strep was faint, but i did see it. i said something to the ped about how i wish I had insisted she be seen earlier, and she said the rapid strep would have been negative earlier and we would have had to wait for the culture results which take a couple of days, so she wouldn't have recieved antibiotics any earlier.

of note, it is friday, day 8 of fever ( around 101 when she wakes up, clears with ibuprofen and returns in the evening), and day 4 of antibiotics and she is still running a fever. she is going back tomorrow if she wakes up with a fever in the morning.

Sheesh, that would have really aggravated me. FWIW, we are on day 5 of antibiotics and I think she has finally turned the corner...yay! There is a lot of yucky stuff going on around here, too, including strep and the crazy virus. Hopefully, everyone's dc will be better soon.