What is Strep?
Strep throat is caused by highly infectious bacteria. These bacteria are present almost everywhere in the world.
Strep is easy to get. You can breathe in the bacteria, touch something with the bacteria on it, or use something that someone with strep has used.
Strep is most common in children. It is easy to diagnose. It is inexpensive to treat. But even if you treat strep once, you can get strep again.
Untreated strep can be dangerous.
If you don’t diagnose and treat strep, sore throat symptoms usually disappear. In some people, however, the bacteria continue to silently attack the body.
This attack can last several years, until the valves of the heart are permanently damaged or destroyed.
More than 55 MILLION people around the world suffer from this preventable heart disease.
1 MILLION will experience heart failure this year.
More than 300,000 WILL DIE, even though it is totally preventable.