Sore Throats Often Lead To Serious Illnesses

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 95, 4 November 1947, Page 8

Sore Throats Often Lead To Serious Illnesses

When you say “It’s only a sore throat,” and leave it at that, you might be heading smartly for trouble. Some sore throats may be simply the beginning of a cold or some other light illness, but many serious illnesses also start off just the same way. Here are the worst of them—diphtheria, scarlet fever, quinsy, rheumatic fever, and kidney and heart disease.

The earliG'f the germ is recognised, the sooner the proper treatment can begin, and the quicker will be the cure. If the germs are deadly ones, delay may be most serious. If you guess wrongly and don’t call the doctor, you might be allowing the germs to multiply so that they gain control. Even the doctor, with all his knowledge and experience, may not be able to tell for certain what the trouble is until he has taken a swab of the infected throat for the laboratory experts to identify the germs. But he will be able to start appropriate treatment without waiting for the swab. Immediately your children* get sore throats put the child to bed at once, keep other children away, give no solid food, only drinks, and send for the doctor immediately. The sore throats which are most dangerous often cause the least pain and discomfort. The child with diphtheria, for instance, seldom . complains very much about a sore throat yet every day’s delay in getting treatment greatly reduces the chances of a recovery. The scarlet fever germ, too, often brings only a sore throat without a rash to warn both the patient and others of its dangers. Keep your home free from dust and flies, those assiduous carriers of germs. Let the sunshine into your rooms and ventilate them freely. A sore throat may be more dangerous than it seems; don’t take risks with it. Your doctor can discover what germs are there—you cannot. And keep other people away from the sufferer.