A few months ago, high cases of influenza and RSV were getting kids sick and driving parents nuts. Now, another infection that pediatricians see every winter is keeping kids out of school.
鈥淲e have seen an increase in strep,鈥� said Dr. Gabrina Dixon, a pediatrician at Children鈥檚
National Hospital in D.C. 鈥淯sually, strep ends around April, and we鈥檙e still in April, so it still could be the season of strep.鈥�
This week, Epic Research, a firm that facilitates the sharing of electronic health records, said that than they were in 2017, which was the last time we saw as many cases of the bacteria-caused illness.
Data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed trips to the emergency room for strep throat also reached a five-year high in February and March.
鈥淚t鈥檚 strep鈥檚 turn now,鈥� said Dixon. 鈥淵ou get strep the same way you get viruses, from coughs or respiratory droplets.
鈥淐ontinue to be safe, washing hands, if you鈥檙e not feeling well, stay away from people鈥� Strep is easily spread and that鈥檚 why we see it in kids a lot because it just can spread so easily.鈥�
In some cases, strep has been strong enough to outlast antibiotics like amoxicillin, which is normally used to treat the illness. But Dixon said most of the time, the usual treatments still work.
Of course, if you start noticing a sore throat, it might be allergies and not strep.
鈥淲e have high pollen counts in the area and so if you know you have allergies, I would say start taking your allergy medications,鈥� said Dixon. 鈥淎llergies are really big right now.鈥�
