Strep Throat 

Strep throat is a common bacterial infection and is easily spread from one person to another through coughing, sneezing, or shaking hands. That’s why it is so important to teach children the importance of hand washing. If your child has been exposed to strep throat, please watch your child for the following symptoms which usually appear 2-5 days after exposure.

Common Signs and Symptoms:

• Throat pain
• Difficulty swallowing
• Red and swollen tonsils, sometimes with white patches or streaks of pus
• Tiny red spots on the soft or hard palate — the area at the back of the roof of the mouth
• Swollen, tender lymph glands (nodes) in your neck
• Fever
• Headache
• Rash
• Stomachache and sometimes vomiting, especially in younger children

For accurate diagnosis, a throat culture needs to be taken. Symptoms generally occur 2-3 days before a culture will show positive results. Following a culture being taken, your child should remain at home until you know the results. If medication is prescribed for strep throat, your child needs to be on the medication for 24 hours before returning to school.

Please call the school’s Health Office if you have any questions or concerns.  

For more information refer to the CDC Strep Throat website.