But he's got white stuff in his throat.

Currently we are seeing a lot of strep going around. It is most of the time a very easy diagnosis and treatment. I tell my MA she gets a raise everytime she has a postive strep. Of coarse I have actually nothing to do with her salary, but it makes her happy. Beta-hemolytic Group A Strep (Strep throat) is treated with antibiotics for one purpose; to prevent Rheumatic Heart Disease. Sorry, but you feeling better pretty fast is just a added bonus. There are other bacteria that sometimes come back postive on throat culture but they don't cause Rheumatic Heart Disease and usually they are not treated. There is some evidence that Group C strep and a couple of other "groups" might also need antibiotics so if it one of those it is treated. Contrary to popular belief exudate or white stuff on the tonsils are not very consistant with strep. They are alot more consistant with adenoid virus which is very good at mimicking strep. Having petechia on the soft palate and tonsilar pillars, the skin in front of the tonsils, is more consistant with strep. Usually cough and runny nose do not accompany strep. Sometimes people have headache and stomachache. Unless you have a strep rash the only way me or any doctor can tell if you have strep is to do a rapid strep antigen test or culture. The rapid test is about 93% accurate which is remarakably good as far as rapid tests go.