Infectious Causes of Sore Throat

If you ask anybody what is a common pathogen that causes a bad sore throat, strep is probably the answer you will get the majority of the times. However, strep due to GABHS for which a rapid strep test is performed only accounts for about 10-15% of all sore throats overall due to a bacteria. When taking into consideration ALL pathogens, viruses cause the majority of all sore throats. Indeed, viruses cause 85% to 95% of throat infections in adults and children younger than 5 years of age; for th…

4/18/2021 0

Continue Reading

Sarah Silverman Suffered From Epiglottitis

Photo by Joan Kirby in Wikipedia Comedian and actress Sarah Silverman reported on her Facebook page that she suffered from epiglottitis last week that required intubation and an ICU stay at Cedars Sinai Hospital last week.  Apparently, her symptoms started with a simple sore throat. The normal epiglottis is a very thin flap of tissue that closes over the windpipe when swallowing preventing food/liquids from going down the wrong way. Shown by the blue arrow in the picture below, when …

7/06/2016 0

Continue Reading

What is the Most Common Cause of Bacterial Sore Throat? (Hint... It is NOT Strep)

Viruses may cause the most sore throats, but when it comes to bacterial sources, strep seems to get a bad rap as THE germ that causes tonsillitis and pharyngitis. However, a 2015 study from University of Alabama suggests that group A strep which is detected by the commonly used rapid strep swab only accounts for about 10% of bacterial sore throats. The real culprit that causes most of the bad non-viral sore throats at least in young adults (15-30 years) is Fusobacterium necrophorum . Th…

5/08/2015 1

Continue Reading

President Obama Sees ENT Doctor

President Obama on Saturday, Dec 6, 2014 saw an ENT for a sore throat several weeks in duration. An Army ENT physician conducted a fiberoptic laryngoscopy which suggested the sore throat was due to acid reflux . The exam apparently " revealed soft tissue swelling in the posterior throat", Mr. Obama's doctor, Ronny L Jackson, said in a statement. Presumably, treatment entailed acid reflux medications as well ask lifestyle changes to minimize the reflux thereby resolving the sor…

12/07/2014 0

Continue Reading

New Treatment for Sore Throat

Well according to American singer-songwriter Suzi Quatro, "I used to get a lot of sore throats and then one of my sisters told me that all illnesses start in the colon. I started taking a daily colon cleanser powder mixed with fresh juice every morning and it made an enormous difference," Quatro told the Daily Mail newspaper. It is unclear how many ounces of juice, what type of juice, and grams of colon cleansing powder was required to obtain this beneficial effect. For her outs…

12/31/2011 0

Continue Reading

Rapid Strep Test Positive But No Sore Throat

Occasionally, I see patients who have received throat swabs for strep that have come back positive... even if they have no signs or symptoms of pharyngitis . In this situation, there are 2 main actions a physician may take (I am biased towards one): 1) Prescribe antibiotics until throat cultures are normal 2) Do nothing Personally, if a patient is without throat symptoms and has no history of rheumatic fever or kidney damage, I would not have even bothered obtaining a strep test . Wha…

3/06/2011 1

Continue Reading

Research on Sword Swallowing and Its Side Effects

Research has actually shown that sword-swallowing can cause sore throats! No kidding! This particular research was based on 110 sword-swallowers from 16 different countries and was published in the British Medical Journal in 2006. This research won the 2007 Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine. Watch a YouTube Video of a sword-swallower in action: ENTs regularly perform a similar procedure when we perform "Direct Esophagoscopy". Just like a sword, it is an elongated rigid metal …

10/10/2010 0

Continue Reading

Epiglottitis Killed President George Washington?

I came across a great blog post by Michael Hebert regarding a book review of Joseph Ellis' biography His Excellency: George Washington . Apparently, at the age of 67, President George Washington died in 1799. I quote from the blog post the following account: "One morning in mid-December 1799, Washington went out, as it was his daily habit, on horseback from his home to inspect his Mount Vernon property. That particular day the weather was very cold and there was an ice storm. I…

7/31/2010 1

Continue Reading

Washington Post Medical Mystery: Rare Severe Sore Throat Caused by Lemierre Syndrome

On Nov 3, 2009, the Washington Post Medical Mystery section published a story titled " Annoying bug turned out to be much more " where a 19 year old female presented with a sore throat which rapidly progressed to a blood clot in her jugular vein, pneumonia, and massive swelling in her neck. What she ended up having was " Lemierre syndrome " suspected by the diagnosing doctor at Georgetown University Medical Center based on the two telltale symtoms of a jugular infection and …

11/03/2009 1

Continue Reading

Washington Post Medical Mystery: A Deadly Sore Throat

The Washington Post on September 23, 2008, published a story of a severe sore throat due to epiglottitis, a severe infection involving the epiglottis, a structure immediately above the airway, which can result in death if not treated quickly. However, due to an accurate diagnosis, treatment with antibiotics and steroids was quickly provided and the patient recovered uneventfully. Read the story here .

10/10/2008 0

Continue Reading

Normal Post-Tonsillectomy Appearance

Often, patients become disturbed with the way their throat looks after a tonsillectomy . However, many of the concerns are unfounded and the appearance though disturbing, is actually normal. The white plaques where the tonsils used to be are actually scabs. Just like a scab on a cut elbow turns white after taking a shower or swimming, the scabs in the throat/mouth turn white from the saliva. Also, the uvula is swollen (3-4X bigger than usual) which also is normal and will improve over the w…

4/28/2008 4

Continue Reading