Strep throat cases up across the area

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - An increase in illness, doctors and pharmacists around Northeast Arkansas are filling more prescriptions for strep throat.

The timing comes as kids are out and about for spring break, and Pharmacist Dylan Dulaney, there really is no seasonal trend and that cases start in children and then work their way up to adults.

“It’s not necessarily a time of the year thing but we are seeing a rise in the last few weeks in strep cases and typically it usually starts in our younger ages,” Dulaney said.

Dulaney said when it starts in children, you see the sharp spike, and as more adults catch, it is when the numbers fall.

He stressed that this year has been different because it is the first time pharmacies can test and treat strep throat patients, and patients don’t have to go to a doctor’s office.

He encourages everyone feeling symptoms to get checked out just in case.

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