mtnslice t1_j5x91wo wrote on January 26, 2023 at 4:38 AM

Reply to comment by NoSoulsINC in ELI5:How can a common cold viral illness turn out bacterial and require antibiotics to cure? by anonFan21

A doctor once diagnosed me with strep and said it was likely viral as well. Prescribed a z-pack (antibiotics) anyway, and the antibiotics didn’t seem to help much; I was still sick over a week. I’m guessing now that “viral strep” is just what the doctors are calling a severe sore throat that presents with similar symptoms to strep but didn’t/couldn’t a culture to confirm the streptococcus bacteria

rubseb t1_j5y1veu wrote on January 26, 2023 at 10:22 AM

That's plausible, although I'd say it would be very careless of a doctor to use that terminology. I get not wanting to use the phrase "severe sore throat" which sounds a bit childish, but there are perfectly good alternatives like pharyngitis (or tonsillitis, as the case may be), which describe the symptoms rather than the cause (strep throat is one cause of pharyngitis, but more commonly it the cause is a viral infection, which can still be very nasty). Or just "inflammation of the throat" if you prefer plain English over Latin & Greek.