When should an antibiotic be taken?

An antibiotic is the standard of treatment for a purulent sore throat if it is caused by bacteria. Immunocompromised people must be treated with antibiotics in any case, as their immune system alone would not be able to cope with the pathogens. This includes especially old people, small children and people with a known defect of their immune system.

All other people can be treated without antibiotics first. If, however, it becomes apparent that the condition does not improve, this is an indication to start antibiotic treatment in order not to prolong the disease unnecessarily. Normally, a purulent sore throat is treated with penicillin.

Here there are differences. Aminopenicillins for example should not be used in this case. If the reason for the purulent sore throat is an infection with an Ebbstein-Barr virus, the administration of an aminopenicillin in some cases leads to an allergic reaction to the antibiotic.

This is usually not noticeable by serious symptoms, but mostly by a harmless skin rash. If the treatment with simple penicillin does not work, the so-called cephalosporins can be used as an alternative. Alternatively, if the first antibiotic therapy does not respond, so-called macrolides can be used, which have a different mechanism of action than the two previously described.

Home remedies can relieve pain and accelerate the healing process. The sufficient drinking of water or honey-sweetened tea is an important first point. Sufficient liquid is important to keep the mucous membranes of the throat moist and thus make it more difficult for the pathogens to spread further.

Besides drinking, gargling is one of the most frequently used home remedies. It is said that gargling with lukewarm camomile or sage tea has an anti-inflammatory effect. Gargling with special salt solutions can also be helpful.

In case of severe pain when swallowing, it can be recommended to suck a simple ice cube. Although the amount of water contained in the ice cube does not contribute significantly to moistening the mucous membrane, the cold gives a slightly numbing feeling to the inner throat. Horseradish is also said to have an anti-inflammatory effect.Freshly grated horseradish can either be boiled up as tea – with a little honey – or eaten directly, provided the pungency is bearable. Last but not least, quark wraps should not go unmentioned. They are also said to have an analgesic effect, which is not so much due to the ingredients of the quark as to its cooling effect.