Dr. Medhat Abu-Shaaban, medical director and pediatrician at myPediaclinic (Voted best pediatric clinic in Dubai) , discusses the reasons behind a throat infection and the misconceptions people have about throat infection.
Infection of the throat and tonsils is common in children. The cause can be either viral or bacterial.
If there is also high fever the child should be seen by a pediatrician to decide if the cause is a virus or a bacterium.
At MyPediaclinic we use a 2 minutes’ throat swab to see whether the infection is viral or bacterial.
We never give antibiotics unless we confirm that the cause is bacterial. Giving antibiotics for a viral infection is a common and widespread mistake as giving antibiotics for a viral infection can lower the child’s immunity and cause diarrhea and cramps along with other gastrointestinal problems.