A lot of different illnesses are hitting the Wichita area hard, and that means a lot of kids home sick from school.

At Dr. Elaine Harrington's office in north Wichita, they're seeing fevers, cold symptoms and vomiting, but attendance in middle schools in north Wichita is normal.

South of Wichita in Derbay, Dr. Camilo Palacio's office is seeing strep throat, several kids with pneumonia, and a lot of vomiting and diarrhea.

In south Wichita middle schools, anywhere from about six to 20 percent of kids are out.

At Dr. Dee Spade's office on the east side of Wichita, they're seeing quite a bit of fevers, colds, congestions, sore throats and a little vomiting and diarrhea. Middle schools there are seeing normal attendance to more than 25 percent of students out sick.

And over at Dr. Mario Borlongan's office in west Wichita, there are mostly stomach viruses and some strep. About 20 percent of kids in west Wichita middle schools are home sick.

Andover schools also have a lot of students staying home sick.

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Strep Throat

• Strep throat is a sore throat caused by bacteria, not a virus.

• It is not possible to tell if a sore throat is caused by strep from just looking at the throat itself, so a throat culture (strep test) is needed to diagnose the bacteria.

• Most sore throats are not strep, most sore throats are due to a virus.

Symptoms of Strep

• Significant fever usually develops.

• Pus or white spots on the tonsils.

• Swollen and very tender throat area.

Fighting the Bacteria

• The best thing to do is go to your doctor and get a prescription antibiotic. The most common used to fight strep is penicillin.

• When treated with an antibiotic, the pain goes away usually within 48 hours.

Home Remedies to Help Relieve the Symptoms
These may help relieve some of the symptoms, but will not cure the bacteria. Going to the doctor is always the best remedy!

• Gargling with warm salt water. Do not swallow the salt water.

• Tea with lemon and honey.

• Avoid citrus foods, these tend to aggravate the area.

• Over the counter anesthetic lozenges and throat sprays.

A compilation of Web reports contributed to this report.