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A sore throat generally causes pain in the part of the throat that you can see when you open your mouth wide: around the tonsils and the back of your throat.

The main symptoms are:¹

• A painful, itchy or scratchy throat, especially when you swallow
• Redness in your throat
• White patches on your tonsils (these are small glands at either side of your throat)
• Fever
• A headache.

Children who have a throat infection may not complain of a sore throat. Instead, they may say they have a bellyache.¹ They may also feel sick to their stomach and vomit.¹

Most sore throats aren't serious. But you should call your doctor if you or your child has:¹

• A lot of difficulty swallowing or breathing
• A temperature of more than 101 degrees
• Very tender or swollen lymph glands in the neck
• Severe pain in the sinuses (sinuses are pockets of air that are in your cheek bones, in the bones between your eyes and in your forehead)
• A cough that produces mucus
• Pus at the back of the throat
• Symptoms such as sunken eyes or feeling weak.