Your doctor can explain which technique is the best for your particular situation. Although the only sure way to identify strep throat is through the use of a throat culture, certain symptom combinations can be a tip-off of strep throat infection. In pre-adolescent children, the most common symptoms of strep throat are headache, abdominal pain and fever. Surprisingly, complaints of a sore throat, though customary in adolescents and adults, are habitually absent in younger children. The abdominal pain suffered by young children with strep throat can be so severe as to be mistaken for appendicitis.
Children can complain of swollen glands in the front of the neck under the jaw.
Occasionally, bloody urine can signal strep throat. Some strains of Group A strep produce a protein that causes the skin to become red and coarse. In adolescents and adults, sore throat is a common symptom and abdominal pain is rare. Differentiating strep infection from a virus in children under two years of age can be difficult since both conditions can present runny nose, fever and crankiness. Knowing if a child has been exposed to strep may help guide the diagnostic process.