“When should you go to the hospital for throat pain?”

You should see his doctor or go to an urgent care to have it looked at.

Throat pain is common and is usually viral, although Group A strep causes throat infection especially in children between the ages of 5 and 15. With strep throat, the throat pain is usually accompanied by fever and sometimes by swollen glands in the front of the neck. If you look into the throat with a flashlight, there is often pus on the tonsils or dark red spots on the palate. If he has fever and throat pain and there is pus on the tonsils and/or dark red spots on the palate, he probably has strep throat. This is generally treated with penicillin or amoxicillin to prevent rheumatic fever. If he has a runny nose, nasal congestion, cough, or hoarseness, these are signs that he does NOT have strep throat and that the problem is likely viral. Viral sore throats almost never need attention at a hospital. During the pandemic, I would try to keep my child away from doctor’s offices and hospitals as much as possible. Therefore, for sore throat without fever and without pus, I would just use throat lozenges or sprays and allow the illness to run its course. If he develops difficulty breathing, he needs to go to medical care.

Randall Fisher, M.D.

Hello,

In the context of acute sore throat, signs of severe or uncontrolled infection that warrant evaluation and possible admission to the hospital include high fever (> 39 C; 102.2 F ), severe throat pain, difficulty swallowing or painful swallowing, difficulty breathing, fatigue, and inability to tolerate oral intake.

Please also consider the high incidence of positive coronavirus cases in the hospital environment during the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Thanks.