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

Yocheved84

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 11:44 pm

Squishy wrote:

Yocheved84 wrote:

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.

Helen Keller had Scarlet Fever or Meningitis.

Scarlet fever is a disease caused by infection with the group A Streptococcus bacteria (the same bacteria that causes strep throat).

anon for this

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 11:46 pm

Squishy wrote:

Yocheved84 wrote:

Helen Keller had Scarlet Fever or Meningitis.

I wonder if Yocheved84 was thinking of Jim Henson, who died at age 53 of strep.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Mar 13 2013, 1:54 am

Squishy wrote:

Yocheved84 wrote:

Helen Keller had Scarlet Fever or Meningitis.

Scarlet Fever IS strep. I know this firsthand. When DD was 5, she had strep 5 times in one year, and I got it every single time. The last time, I got so sick that it turned into Scarlet Fever. My doctor said that if I waited even a couple more days to get medication, he would have checked me right into the hospital in isolation. Even so, I was as sick as a dog. For two weeks I couldn't eat anything except pureed soup, and I lost 15 pounds. The pain in my throat was like nothing I've ever felt, it was like ground up glass just to take a sip of water.

I had to isolate myself in the apartment and have friends drop bags of groceries at my front door. Even after the rash faded and the fever broke, the skin on my hands and feet would blister and peel off for months afterward, leaving raw pink skin underneath. It's a miracle that DD didn't get it as bad as I did, but she'd been on antibiotics longer, and has a stronger immune system than I do.

DD got her tonsils out after that, and B'H we've never had strep since.

watergirl

Wed, Mar 13 2013, 8:53 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

Squishy wrote:

Yocheved84 wrote:

Helen Keller had Scarlet Fever or Meningitis.

As a baby I had strep and it went undetected - no fever and I didn't kvetch (so the story goes). It turned into scarlet fever and was treated then.

tissues

Wed, Mar 13 2013, 3:29 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.

I did not say that to be strep it would always come with fever. I did say that fever shows that the body is actively fighting the disease.

If the body is not visibly fighting (I.e. no fever) that could mean a) the strep is so low scale that a fever is not "needed" to aid in warding off the bacteria b) the body is so weakened that it cannot "summon" up a fever. If the situation is a, no need to worry. If the situation is b, there will be other physical symptoms of an unwell person. In any case, if a child is acting well, fine, normal (which only a mother would know), I would not worry nor panic about untreated strep, or about any other disease, for that matter.

Everyone has to do what's on their comfort level. I would not medicate. I am not comfortable with doing so for an otherwise healthy person. Some cannot not medicate. They are not comfortable letting nature take its course. I would not tell them not to medicate. Find a doctor who is on your wavelength.

Barbara

Wed, Mar 13 2013, 3:37 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

Squishy wrote:

Yocheved84 wrote:

Helen Keller had Scarlet Fever or Meningitis.

DS had it 9 times in kindergarten. My sympathies to you.

And yes, when I had strep, it was like swallowing shards of glass. I couldn't drink water without crying in agony. I have never experienced that kind of pain.

You can tell me that it will go away on its own until you're blue in the face. I would never allow my child to experience that kind of pain for a minute longer than necessary, if I could prevent it.

busydev

Wed, Mar 13 2013, 3:40 pm

the last time I had strep was in 10th grade. I wasnt feeling well, had a big headache for a few days. my throat didnt hurt esp so we didnt think it would be strep. figured lack of sleep.

anyways one morning I woke up and had a lb of metal on my head (or so it felt) I could barely move. I literally forced myself to crawl up the stairs and had to stop every few steps (my bedroom was in the basement.) I went to the dr who took one look and said strep. (and the culture showed up positive in seconds.) I did not have a fever. b"h it did not develop into anything worse- tho I wasnt able to go back to school for 3 days- not cause of contagion but because I was still feeling so awful.

I have a cousin whose strep went untreated for a while and started developing some OCD and extreme nervousness/fears.

if someone is a carrier with no other symptoms other then a positive culture, I hear not medicating (proabbly shouldnt medicate) but otherwise I would insist on it.

I would switch doctors.

amother

Wed, Mar 13 2013, 4:05 pm

I am a physician trained in internal medicine. I don't think people realize a few things here;
1. The difference between COLONIZATION and INFECTION,
2. The difference between a viral upper respiratory infection and a bacterial pharyngitis,
and 3. The VERY REAL DANGER of antibiotic resistance that is a potentially devastating emerging problem in modern medicine.

So if your kid is coughing and sneezing and has a physician who does a strep culture that's positive, that may well have nothing to do with the source of their infection- they likely have a viral syndrome and should not have been tested for strep at all. There are criteria as to which patients with sore throats should even be tested for strep. Colonization with strep in one's throat is NOT the same as infection, is NOT dangerous, does NOT lead to rheumatic fever or post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, or anything else, and DOES NOT NEED TO BE TREATED in most circumstances. So usually we don't do throat cultures at all- unless there are certain criteria- such as fever, tonsillar exudates, swollen cervial lymph nodes, etc. In fact, if a patient has all of the clinical criteria some would treat them even in the absence of a positive strep culture, until the culture results are available.

Bottom line-
NOT TREATING STREP 'COLONIZATION' DOES NOT LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF RHEUMATIC HEART FEVER.
TREATING VIRAL SYNDROMES WITH ABX DOESN'T DO ANYTHING EXCEPT LEAD TO ABX RESISTANCE.
PEOPLE WITH STREPTOCOCCAL PHARYNGITIS SHOULD BE TREATED WITH ABX, but usually they are identified by filling certain criteria that lead physicians to suspect strep and to order cultures.

For more questions, please discuss with your (or your child's) own MD.

From one of my healthcare reference websites- "Patients with fewer than two Centor criteria (tonsillar exudates, tender anterior cervical adenopathy, fever history, absence of cough) should not receive either antibiotic treatment or diagnostic testing. Most authorities, as well as practice guidelines published by the IDSA and American Heart Association favor evaluation using a sensitive RADT, without reflex throat culture for negative results, in adult patients with two or more Centor criteria."

Anonymous because I hate to be 'outed' as an MD here.

amother

Wed, Mar 13 2013, 4:15 pm

Strudel wrote:

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.

If my memory serves me, our GP gave an RX for a sore throat as a matter of course, and they never bothered to filter out the non strep throats.

Miri1

Wed, Mar 13 2013, 4:27 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

Squishy wrote:

Yocheved84 wrote:

Helen Keller had Scarlet Fever or Meningitis.

Is scarlet fever more catchy than regular old strep?

shnitzel

Wed, Mar 13 2013, 7:57 pm

anon for this wrote:

Squishy wrote:

Yocheved84 wrote:

Helen Keller had Scarlet Fever or Meningitis.

I wonder if Yocheved84 was thinking of Jim Henson, who died at age 53 of strep.

He didn't die of strep throat he died of a internal flesh eating disease/toxic shock syndrome caused by the strep bacteria. It is incredibly rare.