Did you ever hear of not medicating a kid with strep?

amother

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 6:52 pm

I am the OP of the other thread about the doctor who didn't medicate my son for a sinus infection even when he was wheezing terribly.

Now my sister took a kid to our new doctor for a throat culture and the doctor didn't even want to do a culture. She said as long as the kid has no fever, they won't medicate for strep.

Has anyone heard of such a thing before? This is all totally new to me and I really don't like it. My kids get strep often and they never get fever with it. How could I send them to school knowing they are contagious? Or am I supposed to keep them home long term? I never heard of strep curing itself. And it can be dangerous if left untreated. Am I overreacting, or is this doctor wrong?

Fabulous

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 6:53 pm

I have a friend whose dr does that. I can say wait on any meds but not for strep because it can spread so quickly to the bloodstream and to others.

Happy2B1

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 7:27 pm

My dr. Doesnt swab either unless there are other symptoms. 2oukd be the new thing on strep. He said some ppl are carriers and will always test+. That is like my daughter. She used to be medicated at leart 5 times a year. Now if she gets medicine once a year its alot. I'm much happier this way and not scared. Its been a few yrs already.

forever21

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 7:38 pm

some people are carriers and will always test +?? I never heard of such a thing. If thats the case then how would your dr know when to medicate and when not to?
As far as I know, it is dangerous not to treat strep. As another poster said, it can get into the bloodstream. Then it can effect other parts of the body such as the heart, etc.
My pediatrician is not into giving medication for every little ailment such as an ear infection but he always medicates for strep.

amother

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 7:42 pm

Idiot Doctor should lose his license.
Come to my pediatric cardiologist with me and see the pictures on the wall Of children with PERMANENT heart damage from rheumatic fever (caused by untreated strep). And even if the child is "only" a carrier, if untreated he can spread the strep to others for longer.

amother

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 7:47 pm

OP here.

I have heard of people being strep carriers who always test positive and a doctor told me they are contagious. This doctor claims that carriers are not contagious or in danger of getting rheumatic fever. He says it's only real strep if the kid has fever.

My kids have had negative cultures before. They are not carriers. Even if they have no fever, I need them to be treated when they have strep. IY"H I will be switching doctors tomorrow.

Strudel

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 7:53 pm

In the UK we don't swab for step. It really isn't seen as a big deal, more of a big discomfort, especially for kids. It can be tough to get an appointment with your GP. Sometimes if can be a few days.
I've never heard of anyone contracting Rheumatic fever from not taking antibiotics.

CherryBerry

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 8:32 pm

Nowadays there is more awareness of what untreated strep can cause even in small kids, such as PANDAS. I would never take the chance of letting strep go untreated, though I have learned from experience that a child can get strep with almost no symptoms. My dd twice in the last 3 months tested positive for strep after a few cranky nights with no other symptom at all.
And she is NOT a carrier, confirmed.

Rodent

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 8:33 pm

As above. They don't do cultures for strep in Australia either. They give antibiotics if there is puss on the tonsils but just red they won't, even if they have a temperature usually. Never heard of anyone getting rheumatic fever, I think if there were vastly more cases here and in the UK then things would change. To be honest I think it is over treated there somewhat and the Dr is probably right.

oliveoil

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 8:43 pm

Rodent wrote:

Totally agree. Thumbs Up

harriet

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 9:19 pm

Rodent wrote:

Just because you personally don't know of anyone it happened to doesn't mean it didn't happen.

I know someone whose untreated strept led to rheumatic fever, a damaged heart, and ultimately (years later when he was a youngish father of many children), his death.

Yocheved84

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 9:36 pm

They are afraid of overprescribing antibiotics and causing--overtime--antibiotic-resistent strep. It's already a problem.

But this doctor sounds like an absolute fool. The child should stay home as to not spread a contagion until the diagnosis is ruled out.

Oh--and I've heard of another case of a strep-related illness going untreated where the person was relatively fine after the episode:

HELEN KELLER.

(She could see and hear before the incident.) Note that our knowledge of medical treatment was different then, and she didn't have strep throat; we believe what she had was strep-related.

ElTam

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 9:40 pm

My doctor doesn't give antibiotics for a lot of things, but strep always.

Here's an article on complications of untreated strep, from the Mayo Clinic, which is one of the most highly regarded hospitals in the United States. (The former king of Jordan got his cancer treatments there.)

http://www.mayoclinic.com/heal.....tions

bnm

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 9:41 pm

so no one gets their tonsils removed in England or Australia?

my great uncle was nifter in Europe before the war from a complication from strep, we take it seriously around here.

amother

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 9:46 pm

For those of you who never heard of someone getting rheumatic fever from strep, ill tell you about it. Dh got it last year from untreated strep and was hospitalized for 4 days. He was put on a low dose of antibiotics for a year and sees a cartiologist regularly. How did he get strep? Most likley from one of our children who is a carrier...
please dont mess around with strep its not worth it.

tissues

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 10:38 pm

Strep is a bacteria. If your body is strong enough to fight against harmful bacteria, you don't need to medicate. If it isn't, you need help through antibiotics.

No need to panic or get hysterical. Many conditions go away on their own because the immune system tackles it. You wouldn't even know it's strep without a culture. It's only when the body develops a fever which means it's really going into full force battle against the strep that you know it may need help.

Even then, a fever is a sign of an immune response, which I wouldn't be so quick to suppress. But it should be monitored to make sure the child is successful in fighting off the infection.

It is also good to know that strep can be fought off naturally by strengthening the immune system rather than killing all the bacteria (good and bad) at once.

amother

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 11:04 pm

Untreated strep can lead to rheumatic fever, and can lead to kidney disease . It's possibly it would go away on it's own but not worth the risk at ALL!!!!!!

amother

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 11:06 pm

amother wrote:

Untreated strep can lead to rheumatic fever, and can lead to kidney disease . It's possibly it would go away on it's own but not worth the risk at ALL!!!!!!

oh and P.S. I personally JUST had strep - I had no fever or anything besides a horrible sore throat and after my doc did a test it WAS INDEED strep and I went on meds right away so that is not true that to be strep it would always come with fever.

33055

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 11:16 pm

Yocheved84 wrote:

Helen Keller had Scarlet Fever or Meningitis.