I don't know; this is a good question. You're further out than I am. I got a horrid sore throat plus the general yucky this past weekend, and since I'd just worked VBS and been around a bunch of little kids, I figured it was strep. (actually, at first I thought it was allergies plus that lovely reflux due to the radiation damage, but the second day it was so bad I knew it had to be more.) We went to an urgent care clinic for a test, because I was due to work scout day camp this week (for the first time since cancer!) and I did NOT want to bring strep to camp with me. (Nor work while feeling that sick. And they did not have spare subs.) The rapid culture wasn't clear, but the doc said my throat looked bad enough that we'd go ahead and treat with antibiotics just as a precaution, to get me feeling better and uncontagious. Still not sure what it was. All the yelling and cheering at camp didn't help much, either. Boggles the mind. Is it a cold? Allergies? What? And how do we separate all the different symptoms from the treatment-induced things like reflux? And forgetting our massages and neck therapies? (guilty there, sigh.)

How's the air quality been in your area? I know for us they issued an air quality alert for the same weekend mine hit so bad ... we don't get those very often at all, and it took folks by surprise. It had to have been one of the many factors that impacted me. Would that impact you? Do you have other breathing-related issues like allergies or asthma to deal with? Oddly, after trying every other med I had as an option, I found out that using my rescue inhaler (which I've barely touched over the last couple years, and yes that means it's expired) helped get rid of some of the throat irritation ... which argued for some of it being a breathing issue made worse by the other issues. So another visit to my allergist is in order. Our bodies and immune systems change so much after cancer ... this is something to look into, if you haven't yet.