What’s Going Around: Strep throat, allergies

WellSpan Pediatric Medicine Physicians across the Midstate are seeing stomach bugs and viral infections.

This week, the providers at UPMC Children’s Community Pediatrics in York and Spring Grove are seeing strep throat and viral illness.

This week, Penn State Health Children’s Hospital pediatricians are seeing a lot of colds and seasonal allergies. They are also seeing some strep throat, bug bites and upper respiratory infections.

Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Physicians Roseville Pediatrics reports ongoing moderate cases of strep throat. They also report enterovirus and adenovirus.

They also saw a rise in pink eye, both bacterial and allergic. They also saw some asthma exacerbations and a lot of seasonal allergy symptoms.

Dr. Joan Thode offered the following advice:

“Histamine is a chemical that aids the immune system in its job. In the case of seasonal allergies, a high amount of histamine is released into the bloodstream, which causes the symptoms of runny nose; congestion; itchy, watery eyes; and sneezing. As long as allergens are present, the child will potentially have a runny nose and mucous production. However, since there will be less energy devoted to a large immune system reaction, kids with allergies tend to be a bit less tired and “wiped out” than kids with acute colds.

Antihistamine medications work by preventing histamine from bonding to histamine receptors in the body, which keeps symptoms from occurring. These medications are designed to be taken daily to maintain a constant state of histamine control. There are also antihistamine eye drops for eye symptoms that persist despite the oral antihistamine. Nasal sprays do not affect histamine, but rather calm the immune system reaction in the nose to help decrease congestion related to allergies.”

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