Strep throat is a bacterial infection of the throat, and chronic strep throat occurs when a person develops possibly several cases a year or is a perpetual carrier of the bacteria that causes the infection. Chronic strep throat can occur in children or adults. While multiple cases of strep throat in one year seem highly unlikely unless a person has chronic strep throat, it is possible to have different cases of strep throat caused by different strains of the bacteria.

The streptococcus bacteria cause strep throat, also known as streptococcal pharyngitis or streptococcal tonsillitis. This results in a sore throat, swollen lymph nodes and usually a fever. Over a third of the cases of sore throats in children are strep throat. Chronic strep throat is considered when several of these episodes happen in a year.

The best way for a doctor to tell if a person has strep throat is to run a culture. This involves swabbing the throat and/or tonsils and then letting the sample grow in a special container called a culture. If the infection grows, the result of the test is positive. Results are usually ready in one to two days, but there is another test called a rapid strep test which is ready in 10 minutes. This rapid strep test, however, only has a sensitivity of roughly 70% compared with a sensitivity of 90-95% for a throat culture.

Some suggest that chronic strep throat may be caused by immune deficiencies. One case study involved a child with recurring strep throat that was found to have too little protein in his diet. Once his diet changed, the chronic strep throat went away as well. Chronic strep throat can also be a problem for people with immune deficiency diseases, such as HIV/AIDS. Vitamin and mineral supplements can help those with chronic strep throat symptoms.

Sore throats caused by bacteria and sore throats caused by viruses have similar characteristics and are difficult to tell apart. Most strep throat cases will be accompanied with a fever, a yellowish coating on the tonsils and swollen lymph nodes on the front of the neck rather than the back. In addition, sore throats caused by viruses are usually accompanied by a stuffy or runny nose and other similar symptoms. The rhinovirus, the virus responsible for the common cold, shares similar symptoms with strep throat but usually is not accompanied by a fever.

Since there can be multiple causes for similar symptoms, the best way to determine if a person has chronic strep throat is to run a culture while a person is showing no signs. This will allow a doctor to determine if a person is the one in ten or more people that carry the bacteria even while healthy. This would make the argument for chonic strep throat, a full-blown case of which can be triggered by any number of factors.