Continious strep | Imamother

amother

Thu, Feb 19 2015, 8:04 am

My son has strep for the 3rd time back to back. When I got him medicine the second time the pharmacist recommended kiddie max Panto C. I've given it to him as instructed (might have missed one or two doses) and he just came down with strep again.

Is there anything I can do to boost his immune system it shouldn't happen again? Any suggestions are appreciated.

amother

Thu, Feb 19 2015, 8:59 am

Do you retest after a positive culture after abx to make sure the infection went away? It sounds more likely that the strep is never teally going away than constant reinfection

Scrabble123

Thu, Feb 19 2015, 9:03 am

Is your child possibly a healthy strep carrier? He would test positive for strep even when he'd have a viral infection (and even when he feels totally healthy). Why don't you discuss that possibility with your child's pediatrician. It's not so uncommon and is important for the doctor to consider, especially when prescribing antibiotics because your son may not need them (and may just be testing positive as a healthy carrier).

amother

Thu, Feb 19 2015, 9:08 am

Each of these strep episodes was one after the other so it's possible that it went away in the first place. About having strep always I took him to the doctor because he was complaining of a sore throat (so I assume it should be treated).

FranticFrummie

Thu, Feb 19 2015, 9:13 am

Take him to an ENT, not a regular doctor.

DD had strep (and shared it with me) for a year and a half. shock

She has an amazing immune system, so we couldn't figure out what was wrong. It turned out that the strep was harboring in places that didn't get reached by the antibiotics, was both gram negative and gram positive, and was becoming drug resistant. I ended up getting Scarlet Fever because of it, and had to stay in quarantine for almost 3 weeks. Recovery took a full 2 months.

Neither of us really got well until she got her tonsils out. After that, we've been infinitely healthier, and a bonus was that her behavior improved 100%!

Scrabble123

Thu, Feb 19 2015, 9:27 am

amother wrote:

Alright, I'll try to explain it better.
You can have a sore throat and not have a bacterial infection. It could be viral and not require medication.
If that is the case AND you're a strep carrier you will test positive for strep anyways because you are a healthy carrier. There are studies about this, and my pediatrician was always very into this concept. The percentages are not so clear cut because many people don't bother investigating, but there are healthy carriers of strep.

summer0808

Thu, Feb 19 2015, 9:30 am

It's possible that someone else in the family is a healthy carrier and this child keeps on getting reinfected.

I had this in my family as a child. One brother was prone to strep and one winter just could not get rid of it. One other child in the family got sick. Finally the ped had the entire family take cultures. Turns out that everyone except for 2 of us (out of about 10) was carrying strep but only this child was getting sick. We all took antibiotics (including the noncarriers) Brother didn't get strep again for years!!!

greenfire

Thu, Feb 19 2015, 9:54 am

my son got out his tonsils and adenoids after having chronic strep ... made a huge difference

do see a specialist

amother

Thu, Feb 19 2015, 10:12 am

I had strep back to back for 2 years, and felt terrible all that time.

My parents finally decided to take my tonsils out. I haven't had it since I was 9 and they removed them. Turned out my tonsils were harboring strep.

mommyyy

Thu, Feb 19 2015, 11:30 am

Def see what ent says. That said, make sure u throw away toothbrushes change linens etc... One other strange tip that helped many (don't know why but it does!) is DO NOT keep toothbrushes in the bathroom. All family members should keep their own toothbrushes in their own drawer or shelf in bedroom. Refuah shelaima!!