Dr. Jimmy Mohammed, health consultant at Europe 1, describes the symptoms and remedies of a viral disease that comes back every year along with the cold: pharyngitis.

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Sore throat, fever, big blow of tiredness ... Pharyngitis is often confused with angina, just as incapacitating. One mistake, says Dr. Jimmy Mohammed: "Pharyngitis is a viral infection of the europharynx, while angina is an infection of the tonsils (which rely on the pharynx), so it is not a bacterial disease."

Unlike angina, this inflammation is often accompanied by a cough and a runny nose, while swallowing pains are mainly felt when swallowing a food.

No doubt between the two if the patient is less than three years old: at that age, the tissues that make up the tonsils are not yet mature ... and therefore not likely to be targeted by angina.

Is it serious doctor ?

Pharyngitis is a benign disease, but it should not be taken lightly. "We often think that a small pharyngitis does not hurt, but it can be very painful and give temperature," says Jimmy Mohammed. "We can have 39 or even 40 degrees in the youngest children". He wants to reassure: "It is not that it is super-infected, nor that it is bacterial."

Side duration, the patient can suffer "until five to seven days" before seeing the symptoms fade. And not 48 hours as we often think. "Even we doctors, we happen to be wrong," concedes the health consultant.

There may be complications when pharyngitis is accompanied by rhinitis (rhinopharyngitis), otitis, sinusitis or superinfection. In this case, the doctor may decide that antibiotic treatment is necessary.

Treat it, and avoid passing it on

What to do when touched? Antibiotics are not given for pharyngitis, a viral disease. Dr. Jimmy Mohammed recommends "paracetamol, and then honey that is often neglected but is a natural antiseptic that allows fluid secretions when you cough.With a little lemon, we drink, we rest."

"We are especially careful not to contaminate others," says the doctor. "At home, we avoid kisses to loved ones, but in the office, it is better to do the kiss than to shake hands, often badly washed."

If it is possible, the number one remedy is to put the patient under the cover and avoid contact with the community.