New Delhi. With every change of season, viral nasal and throat congestion cases rise. The patients typically presents with high grade fever, nasal discharge, sore throat and body ache, said Dr KK Aggarwal, President Heart Care Foundation of India.

Dr. Aggarwal said that no antibiotics are required for viral disorders. Symptoms that suggest a viral etiology for sore throat include congestion, cough, nasal discharge and diarrhea.

One needs to be concerned especially in children and rule out group A beta hemolytic strepto bacterial infection which accounts for upto 30% of pharyngitis cases in children and 10% in adults. If untreated they can lick the joints and bite the heart and cause valvular heart disease.

A sore throat which needs antibiotics is the one which is associated with red angry looking tonsils, pain in the throat while swallowing food, painful enlargement of lymph node at the angle of the mouth and absence of cough, nasal discharge, sneezing and eye inflammation.