Corticosteroids for a sore throat? One dose of a steroid can alleviate the pain—and has the potential to decrease unnecessary use of antibiotics.

a 28-year-old woman comes to your clinic because she’s had a severe sore throat and low-grade fever for the past 2 days. She has no associated cough. examination reveals erythematous posterior oropharynx with exu-date. a rapid strep test is negative. The pa-tient says the sore throat is very painful and asks for medication to make it better. What should you prescribe?