Listen to the above commenters when they are telling you about the long term effects on your heart because trust me, I KNOW FIRST HAND! When I was a child my mother didn't treat my strep with antibiotics. As a result, I developed Rheumatic Fever and now live with a Mild Mitral Regurgitive Prolapse, which basically means I have a prolapsed heart valve. The valve is damaged and that allows the blood to regurgitate itself in & out of that valve because it won t close properly. It can be heard as a heart murmur. I have had to be premedicated with antibiotics before any dental or major medical treatment that I m going to have. Which means if you don't take your antibiotics for strep now, then you might end up having to take them often later to prevent debris from entering your heart, causing an infection, and killing you later. These aren't scare tactics. This is my life as a result of not being treated with antibiotics for strep throat. That's the one and only thing that caused all of this for me, nothing else. Seems kind of senseless, if you ask me. My mother didn't know any better, but now you do!
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Although experienced physicians are good at determining strep without a lab test, they are still wrong a decent percentage of time. While the throat culture is the gold standard, a rapid strep test is sufficiently accurate. If you do have strep, there are several reasons that you should take antibiotics. If you are not worried about the consequences to your own body, be aware that you can spread the infection to others more vulnerable.