there's been an alarming Trend over the last few months in the United States of increasing cases of strep throat and it's been so significant that even media began to notice look at all these articles popping out left and right one of the leading theories doctors have is that throughout the pandemic strep rates hit an all-time low and now that we're coming out of the pandemic the rates are starting to bounce back up there is one part of this that I don't feel like is being discussed that is in my eyes a significant cause in the uptick of strep cases and that is Vapes before we talk about Vapes we have to talk about what a strep throat actually is in fact most sore throats are not strep throat the majority of them are caused by viruses or other bacterias that are not nearly as problematic as group a strep the common scenario that plays out in my office is a patient comes in who tests positive for strep and they think they need antibiotics in order to treat the infection or to feel better sooner but the reality is that treating a patient who has strep with antibiotics will only speed up their resolution of symptoms by about a day so not incredibly significant but what we do give to antibiotics for is to decrease the rate of serious complications like rheumatic fever which can lead to heart disease valvular disease peritonsillar abscess which can create a pocket of pus and infection deep inside the throat or even kidney inflammation it's not to speed up healing it's to prevent complications you may be wondering why not just treat all sore sore throats with antibiotics well there are downsides to using antibiotics first and foremost it creates antimicrobial resistance where the bugs that naturally live in your body and colonize your body can become resistant to antibiotics and the more antibiotic it's resistant to creates more problems for you because ultimately you can run out of antibiotics and you can have what's known as a superbug second is there are side effects from antibiotics you can develop antibiotic Associated diarrhea because antibiotics don't selectively kill bacteria that are bad for you they kill a lot of different bacterias and in doing so you can actually harm the microbiome that exists in your gut that helps you have a healthy digestive system and in rare cases let's say if you have mono the kissing disease and you take amoxicillin or penicillin you could potentially break out in a full body rash like this which I actually did when my dad prescribed me amoxicillin thinking I had strep throat but we didn't test and I had Mono and I broke out with a rash just like this it's also really important to point out that if you have a viral infection and you take antibiotics it will only cause you potential harm there is no benefit to taking antibiotics when you have a viral sore throat so where do the Vapes come into all of this well it started with one of my buddies who recently came back from a trip to Vegas he called me and he said he's sick he thinks he has strep throat he said that he's never going back to Vegas again every time he goes to Vegas he gets sick and I started thinking like a doctor so I said oh well do you hook up with a lot of people he said no not really do you share drinks with a lot of people he said no not really I usually don't even drink much and I hold the drink in my hand I don't I want to make sure no one puts anything in it so I'm protective of my drink I thought about it some more and I realized wait I know you personally don't usually Vape but do you ever share Vapes when you're out nightlife wise he goes like a light bulb went off and he said yes and then I started thinking back to my times going out and seeing dozens of people pass around one single vape and that's putting the negative consequences of vaping aside and just pointing out the fact that every person sharing this shrap stick because that's what I'm going to refer to it from now on it's literally passing around their mouth bacteria to each other person and leaving it on the Vape it can spread herpes mono covet literally any other virus I don't have concrete proof no data yet to back this up but anecdotally from speaking with friends my patients my own experiences to what I've seen in the world it makes sense it makes sense scientifically because not only are you exposed to dozens of people's saliva which bacteria viruses and dare I even say fungi live in but you're also usually in Nightlife not sleeping drinking alcohol partying long hours that alone can decrease your immune protection and then you're being exposed it's like a true double whammy this is a new issue that I think warrants investigation do I think that this is the sole driver of strep infections rising in the U.S no I think it's likely multifactorial but I hope that the next time someone offers you to share their Vape you say no thanks I'm not interested in that shrap stick do jaw trainers actually work click here where I answer that question and many more of yours in the comment section as always stay happy and healthy and say no distress [Music]