How To Find The Best Antibiotic For Strep Throat In Adults

February 10, 2018

Paularosa

How To Find The Best Antibiotic For Strep Throat In Adults

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Introduction

Has your throat felt scratchy or raw before? If so, then you might suffer from a kind of sore throat that is specifically caused by the Streptococcus bacteria.

Don’t stress out since we’re here to introduce you the greatest cure to treat your strep throat fast and effectively: Antibiotics. Before looking through our best antibiotic for strep throat in adults, let’s find out more about strep throat and handy antibiotics as well as how they truly help you relieve painful symptoms!

Quick Overview of Strep Throat

Strep throat is a bacterial infection mainly characterized by swollen tonsils and irritating pains when swallowing something (foods, drinks, etc.). The worst consequence of getting this infection is that you will feel highly sore and scratchy in your throat although these symptoms just account for a little portion of your throat [1].

It’s called “strep throat” because it’s caused by a bacteria called “Streptococcal” which invades the pharyngeal tissue and triggers the inflammatory reaction of both tonsils and throat. The organisms are usually explored in the throat, or even in the skin. As you know, a few people might carry the Streptococcus in their throat or complexion, but don’t show off any particular sign or symptom of the illness.

Streptococcus bacteria
Strep throat is named after a bacteria called Streptococcal

Once being left untreated, the symptom can become worse, leading to large-scale inflammations and rheumatic fever. This fever will trigger more inflamed joints – a typical kind of rash or heart valve disease. And one of the most common things that people often misunderstand is that strep throat only happens to children, but in fact, it can affect people of all ages.

So, what are the best antibiotic for strep throat in adults? Amoxicillin, penicillin and cephalexin are the most common drugs you can rely on. They work merely against bacterial infections, like strep throat for example, and they won’t cause sore throat triggered by allergies and other infections like flu. Getting rid of bacteria will shorten the period you’re suffering.

Most Common Symptoms of Strep Throat

When you’ve got a strep throat, you might often find that your throat feels slightly raw and kind of hurts when swallowing foods or drinks. Also, you would explore that it arrives quite fast, not slowly like other types of sore throats. The symptoms usually include:

  • Fever (you might want to check out CAN YOU HAVE STREP THROAT WITHOUT A FEVER)
  • Swollen and tender lymph nodes around the neck
  • Small red spots on your back of the roof of the mouth
  • Pain in your gut
  • Vomiting, especially in younger kids
  • Aches over the body
  • Headache
  • Rash
  • Swollen tonsils, occasionally with streaks of pus

Furthermore, you probably spot a red rash on the neck or your groin soon after the symptoms start. This is seen as a sign of scarlet fever, which is seen as an illness that takes place in children who suffer from strep throat or any skin infection. Those bacteria can create a poison that will make a red rash. In this case, don’t hesitate to call your doctor if you, your kids or YOUR NEWBORNS HAVE ANY SPECIFIC SYMPTOM OF STREP THROAT, or as you finally spot this rash.

It’s possible not only you but also your kid to suffer from several of these symptoms, but not mostly have the strep throat. A lot of symptoms can overlap with other health issues. The cause would be a viral infection or a few other illnesses. For this reason, your doctor has to test specifically for the strep throat.

What Are Antibiotics and How Do They Work?

What Are Antibiotics?

Antibiotics belong to a class of drugs that have the power of killing the Streptococcus bacteria – the main cause of strep throat. So, they work the best just on bacteria, and won’t bear any further effect on sore throats that are triggered by viruses. You can call them the medicines that can stop any infection or simply avoid them from copying themselves for reproduction [2].

antibiotic for strep throat
Antibiotic was found in the 1920s

In the 1920s, some scientists first found these best antibiotic for strep throat in adults. At that time, a lot of people passed away due to slight bacterial infections, and strep throat was one of them. As we know, carrying out surgery was quite risky for this case, but right after the appearance of antibiotics in the 1940s, the infected people could stay alive from what used to be considered as a fatal infection.

What Can Antibiotics Do?

As you know, most bacteria tend to live in your body, which is supposed to quite harmless. A few of them come in handy, but the risky bacteria are likely to infect nearly every organ, which makes these antibiotics completely useless. In case you have no idea what we’re saying, here are the common infections that are treated effectively with antibiotics:

  • Ear and sinus (sinusitis) infections
  • Skin infections
  • Strep throat
  • Dental infections
  • Kidney infections
  • Urinary infections
  • Bladder infections

Well, they’re not only the best antibiotic for strep throat in adults, but they’re also used to treat other health symptoms as above. Are you still confused? Consult your health specialist or doctor for more precise information.

By the way, if you unluckily have strep throat, your doctors will prescribe amoxicillin to treat it well because this is one of the best antibiotic for strep throat in adults. Also, they’re apparently safer, cheaper, and working quite well.

What Can’t Antibiotics Do?

Remember that only bacterial infections can be cured with antibiotics, which means that antibiotics don’t bring into play when dealing with common virus-caused diseases (cold, flu, coughs, bronchitis, etc.).

So, you’d better ask the doctor. He/she will let you know that it’s necessary to prescribe other antiviral medicines so that your illness can be removed completely. For HOW LONG DOES STREP THROAT LAST WITHOUT ANTIBIOTICS, you might want to check out this post.

What Are the Best Antibiotic for Strep Throat in Adults?

The best antibiotic for strep throat in adults should deliver the most optimal balance between the effectiveness, convenience, safety, and cost. Keep in mind that antibiotic choices would depend mostly on the allergies of the patients, clinical effectiveness, duration, potential side effects, and cost.

This time, you get to learn more about the antibiotics that receive the best approval for strep throat cure with suitable dosage recommendations and full knowledge of the wisest use of these medications [3].

Penicillin

If you’re not allergic to the drug, penicillin will be the initial antibiotic option for curing your strep throat without a doubt. It was initially launched in the 1940s and has become the major medicine out of other best antibiotic for strep throat in adults. Since that great discovery, penicillin has been known to remove the Group A Streptococcus. And there is a series of bacteria developed from a human that is immune to penicillin.

Also, penicillin will be injected in a dose over ten days. For adults, they can take 250 mg of penicillin four times per day, or 500 mg of penicillin twice per day.

Amoxicillin

Amoxicillin is said to have a longer half-life as compared to the first one once per day for the same price. Besides, this is another broader spectrum form of Penicillin, so you can understand why it’s much more effective and useful for some certain patients among the best antibiotic for strep throat in adults.

According to the research, only one single dose of Penicillin taken in just one day. The drug also tastes much better than the Penicillin, but it sometimes causes the rash on the skin or other gastrointestinal issues. For the maximized results, Amoxicillin should be taken in doses about three times per day.

Azithromycin

Azithromycin
Azithromycin is best recommended for those who are allergic to Penicillin

Being categorized as a macrolide antibiotic, Azithromycin is also seen as the secondary cure to the Penicillin. This drug is best recommended for those who are allergic to Penicillin. Thus, you can take this drug as a great substitute if you hate dealing with a full 10-day period. It just requires a dose of 500 mg on your first day, which is followed by the daily dose of 250 mg in the four following days.

This medication won’t work well for any viral infection, from cold to flu. More importantly, avoid unnecessary use because using any antibiotic in the wrong way might lead to reduced effectiveness later on.

Clarithromycin

Clarithromycin is also called Biaxin – another popular brand name of the drug. It can act as an effective alternative for anyone who is allergic to penicillin as well. Following a few studies, a 10-day course of using Clarithromycin would work better at neutralizing the Streptococcus than the only 5-day regimen of using Azithromycin.

For the adult dosage, it usually calls for 250 mg of Clarithromycin each twelve hours for ten days. Like other best antibiotic for strep throat in adults, Clarithromycin can get rid of similar kinds of bacteria to the Penicillin antibiotics, like Amoxicillin [4].

Clindamycin

It’s highly effective for those who have penicillin allergies or endure any case of strep throat that is completely immune to penicillin. But approximately one percent of the Streptococcus series has displayed resistance to the drug. In addition, doctors will be in charge of prescribing a 10-day period of 300 mg taken three times per day.

Cefdinir

It’s best to take Cefdinir orally, especially when the drug has been shown to own a higher removal of the group A than Penicillin. Besides, Cefdinir is one of the best antibiotic for strep throat in adults in terms of possessing the most intense anti-bacterial capabilities [5].

According to research, it suggests that a 5-day regime of this drug will be equal to a 10-day course with Penicillin. In reality, the drug has been displayed to own a higher rate of eradication than Penicillin.

Amoxicillin Clavulanate Potassium

Advertised as one of the best antibiotic for strep throat in adults, Amoxicillin Clavulanate Potassium is completely immune to any damage triggered by waste stuff, like the one caused by Streptococcus. The drug is often availed to cure any recurring situation of strep throat.

The carriers of the bacteria are said to be prescribed this drug as well. Mature adults are frequently prescribed from 500 to 875 mg that needs to be taken about twice per day out of 10 days. However, the major defect of using this drug is that it can lead to diarrhea.

Best Natural Treatments for Strep Throat

This segment is not about the best antibiotic for strep throat in adults, but the best natural treatments to eradicate this infection.

Elderberry

Though elderberry is not one of the best antibiotic for strep throat in adults, it’s still the top choice as it has strong antibacterial effects. Following a recent study, this fruit is likely to guard against respiratory symptoms throughout the longest flights. Also, researchers also recommend elderberry to prevent the risk of getting respiratory disorder or other bacteria-induced infection.

In addition, according to this study, travelers going back from overseas or the ones who took advantage of elderberry tent to display fewer symptoms than the other group who didn’t use it. So, let’s drink tea extracted from elderberry, or take the powder or capsules. If not, you can get it in the liquid form, instead.

Vitamin C

Using Vitamin C to improve your immunity is a good idea, but you can make use of it to fix your tissue damage in your throat as well as lower the risk of suffering a wide range of diseases. So, take 1,000 milligrams of Vitamin C if you want to protect yourself against the upcoming infection.

Also, don’t hesitate to take about 4,000 milligrams of Vitamin C a day to remove infections in your immune system. Once you’ve got some familiar symptoms of strep throat, hurry to increase your Vitamin C consumption by taking a supplement. If not, it’s good to eat fruits that are rich in Vitamin C, such as kale, strawberries, oranges, grapefruit, and kiwi. But if you’re unable to swallow anything, smoothies are the best alternative.

Echinacea

To avoid any common cold or flu, there’s no other better way than relying on Echinacea. As researchers recommend, there are several strong Echinacea’s benefits we cannot ignore, from its capability of acting as an immune-boosting herb to the great medicine that can block the development of bacterial conditions, like strep throat.

Echinacea
Echinacea is a great immune booster and bacterial fighter

In fact, we’ve been told about another great evidence recommending that the compounds contained in Echinacea, which can retain bacteria and other viruses from getting your healthiest cells.

Besides, Echinacea could be utilized to decrease the pain relevant to strep, sore throat, headaches, and aches. Its anti-inflammatory effects are believed to lower the swelling in your throat, and you can take this natural remedy under the liquid form, like tea right after the common symptoms have shown up.

Salt Water Gargle

Although this casual-looking remedy might not work as effectively as other best antibiotic for strep throat in adults, salt water gargle is still a useful, convenient method to reduce your swelling. It helps the whole body make such inhospitable surroundings in the throat by gargling with salt and water.

Moreover, salt is known to possibly break up the mucus and decrease the painful feeling of your tissues by lowering your water retention. Let’s add a teaspoon of sea salt to one 8-oz glass of cozy liquid and then gargle for 1-2 minutes before spitting it out.

How to Differentiate Strep Throat from Sore Throat?

Because “sore throat” and “strep throat” are easily mistaken when being availed interchangeably, we’d like to show you how a sore throat is different from a strep one.

Strep Throat

Strep throat itself is known as Streptococcal pharyngitis – a sort of infection with Group A and recognized by the inflammation of tonsils. This illness is seen commonly in children of the age of 5-12 years.

Because the Streptococcal bacteria attack the tonsils in our throat, some people decide to CUT OFF THEIR TONSILS as a way to prevent strep throat as well as other throat-related complications like tonsil stones, abscess, etc. But does a tonsillectomy means no more strep throat? You may want to check out CAN YOU GET STREP THROAT WITHOUT TONSILS.

Sore Throat

On the other hand, a sore throat is triggered by viruses, making them harder to treat. Apart from this, sore throat is said to be also caused by dry air, smoke (cigarette smoke), allergies, or pollution. Unlike a strep throat, a sore throat can go away on its own without needing us to use antibiotics for cure. In reality, even the best antibiotic for strep throat in adults become useless when confronting the viral infections, such as flu or cold.

A few common symptoms of a sore throat you might not know are watery eyes, cough, low fever, runny nose, and sneezing. Pretty much like the strep throat, the sore throat can be reduced by removing the tonsils. In fact, according to a study, tonsil removal can lower the risk of getting sore throat by up to 40%.

Conclusion

Throughout this post, we hope you can have a deep insight into the best antibiotic for strep throat in adults. Before using any of them, make sure you consult your physician or doctor for a professional diagnosis.

Although strep throat is quite contagious and likely to spread through human’s close contact, you should not worry much about it. Everything will be solved as soon as you’ve got the right treatment, such as antibiotics for strep throat or other natural remedies, to cut off your illness’ length only half a day.

If you have any question, leave your comment below. If you find out post helpful, don’t hesitate to share it. Thank you for reading!

 

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