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Originally Posted On: https://www.kiwidrug.com/blog/2023/08/oral-gonorrhea-vs-strep-throat-symptoms-treatments-and-more/

 

Are you suffering from a sore throat right now? If so, you might automatically assume that your throat pain could be tied to strep throat.

But strep throat isn’t the only condition that can cause you to have to deal with a sore throat. There is also a chance you could have a condition like oral gonorrhea.

It’ll be important for you to get a proper diagnosis so that you can treat either oral gonorrhea or strep throat accordingly. Treating oral gonorrhea vs strep throat will require you to take different approaches.

In this article, we’re going to tell you all about both oral gonorrhea and strep throat in an attempt to show you what sets them apart. Continue reading to learn about the differences between oral gonorrhea vs strep throat.

What Is Oral Gonorrhea?

Many people are familiar with gonorrhea. It’s a sexually transmitted infection that can affect a person’s genitals and rectum.

What people don’t always realize, though, is that there is also oral gonorrhea. As its name would suggest, it’s an oral form of gonorrhea that is also sometimes referred to as pharyngeal gonorrhea. It can be transmitted to a person when they have unprotected oral sex with someone who has been infected with gonorrhea.

What Are the Oral Gonorrhea Symptoms?

One of the tricky things about oral gonorrhea is that it doesn’t produce symptoms in everyone. There are some people who will be infected with oral gonorrhea who won’t ever know about it.

There are, however, some oral gonorrhea symptoms that might rear their ugly heads. And some of them can make it appear as though a person has strep throat. It’s what makes it important for people to be able to differentiate between oral gonorrhea vs strep throat.

Here are some of the symptoms a person might face when they’ve been infected with oral gonorrhea:

• Sore throat
• Trouble swallowing
• Swollen lymph nodes
• White spots on tonsils
• Red and swollen tonsils
• Fever
• Nausea
• Headache
• Vomiting

If a person ever sees one or more of these symptoms, it would be worth getting them checked out by a doctor. Oral gonorrhea could be to blame for them.

What Are the Oral Gonorrhea Treatments?

First and foremost, people should try to avoid getting infected with oral gonorrhea by avoiding unprotected oral sex. Or if they are going to have unprotected oral sex, they should only take part in it with a partner they trust who has been tested for STIs.

But if a person is ever infected with oral gonorrhea, they’ll need to seek treatment as soon as they can. Oral gonorrhea can be more difficult to treat than regular gonorrhea, so it’ll be important for a person to get the treatment they need ASAP.

Generally speaking, oral gonorrhea can usually be treated with heavy doses of antibiotics. They can help knock out the infection that comes along with oral gonorrhea.

There are several antibiotics that can be used to treat oral gonorrhea, including azithromycin, ceftriaxone, and doxycycline. A doctor can decide which one to prescribe based on a person’s condition.

What Is Strep Throat?

Unlike oral gonorrhea, strep throat isn’t a sexually transmitted infection. But it is an infection that can be caused by the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes.

Anyone can be diagnosed with strep throat. But more often than not, those who are diagnosed with strep throat will be either young children or teenagers. It’s typically spread through droplets from an infected person that end up in another person’s mouth.

Strep throat can be very contagious. So anyone who is diagnosed with it should try to stay away from others for at least a couple of days. They should also make sure they cover their mouth any time they cough or sneeze to avoid allowing droplets to spread through the air and potentially infect others.

What Are the Strep Throat Symptoms?

While oral gonorrhea won’t always produce symptoms in a person who has it, those with strep throat will usually be able to tell. It’ll produce a wide range of symptoms that’ll prevent a person from leading a normal life.

A persistent sore throat is the first surefire symptom of strep throat. Those with strep throat will often experience serious pain in their throats when they’re doing something as simple as swallowing saliva.

Here are several other strep throat symptoms that can impact a person:

• Red and swollen tonsils
• White patches on tonsils
• Fever
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Headache
• Body aches

At first, a person who has strep throat might simply think they have a common cold. But as time goes on, their strep throat symptoms might get worse and convince them otherwise.

People who suspect they have strep throat should get to a doctor right away to confirm their suspicions. A doctor can perform a simple throat culture to see if a person has strep throat.

What Are the Strep Throat Treatments?

When a person believes they may have strep throat, they should be able to get rid of at least some of the pain they’re experiencing by taking over-the-counter medications. It might eliminate symptoms like a headache, body aches, and even a sore throat.

But to truly treat strep throat, a person will need to spend about 7 to 10 days taking antibiotics. Antibiotics should be able to knock out the bacteria that can cause strep throat and help a person feel better.

Penicillin and amoxicillin are a couple of the most effective strep throat treatments. Other antibiotics that have been used to treat strep throat in the past, like azithromycin and clarithromycin, might not work as well since the bacteria that cause step throat have started to become immune to them.

Understand the Differences Between Oral Gonorrhea vs Strep Throat

Initially, you might find that you’ll have the same symptoms when you get either oral gonorrhea or strep throat. But as you’ve seen here, there are so many differences between oral gonorrhea vs strep throat.

You should be diligent about getting to the bottom of which condition you might have. It’ll enable you to get the treatment you need in no time.

Kiwi Drug may be able to supply you with the medications you’ll need to knock out oral gonorrhea or strep throat symptoms. Shop around on our website to see which products we can offer to you.