Is your child complaining of a dry and itchy throat? He or she may have a sore throat caused by a viral infection .

“Sore throats are very common, especially amongst school-aged children, says Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse, a Mayo Clinic pediatric infectious disease specialist. “Some of the symptoms that a child might complain of are pain when swallowing, difficulty swallowing, refusal to eat or drink anything because it’s painful. They may complain of pain on the outside of their neck where their lymph glands are.”

Most sore throats are caused by viruses and will be get better on their own. Dr. Rajapakse says, “90 percent of sore throats are caused by viruses. Those are the most common cause of sore throats. A small percentage of sore throats are caused by the group A strep or strep bacteria, and those are the ones that require treatment with antibiotics. All viral sore throats will get better on their own, and there’s no benefit to taking antibiotics and, in fact, taking antibiotics for them could cause you or your child harm.

More health and medical news on the Mayo Clinic News Network http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/
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