Symptoms of tonsillitis

The main symptom of tonsillitisisa Strep throat . Your tonsils will be red and swollen, and your throat may be very painful, making swallowing difficult. In some cases, the tonsils are coated or have white, pus-filled spots on them. Other common symptoms of tonsillitisinclude: high temperature (fever) over 38C (100.4F) coughing headache earache feeling sick feeling tired swollen, painfullymph glands in your neck loss of voice or changes to your voice The symptoms of tonsillitis usually get better after three to four days. Ifyou have tonsillitis that's caused bya viral infection, such as the common cold or flu ,your symptoms may be milder. If your tonsillitis is caused by a bacterial infection, such as a streptococcal infection , your symptoms will usually be more severe and you may also have bad breath . It's difficult to tell just by looking at a person's throat whether they have tonsillitis as aresult of a virus or a bacterial infection. Tests are needed to confirm this. Antibiotics may be recommended if test results show that your tonsillitis is caused by a bacterial infection.