Can natural remedies affect strep culture results??

amother

Firebrick

Thu, Jul 05 2018, 4:22 pm

My daughter ran a fever and I could hear the way she talked that she had sort of a bubble in her throat and it was a bit red. No pain though. I right away gave her some herbs and echinacea. In total she got about 5 doses and then I decided to have her checked for strep just so I know what shes dealing with. The result came back negative. Im starting to wonder whether remedies could cause a negative while you actually are fighting a strep? Or is she just dealing with a viral strep. Anyone know?

Like did any of you treat a strep naturally and then you went for a recheck and it was still positive?

amother

Teal

Thu, Jul 05 2018, 4:32 pm

There's no such thing as viral strep. Someone can have strep throat, which is caused by strep bacteria, or they can have a different viral illness that feels similar to strep. If the throat culture is negative, she does not have strep bacteria in her throat. I doubt your homeopathic treatment eliminated strep bacteria in such a short time. Most likely, she has a viral infection that isn't strep and never was.

amother

Firebrick

Thu, Jul 05 2018, 4:43 pm

amother wrote:

Ofc there isnt such a thing as viral strep. I meant to say its viral with symptoms like strep. Im thinking maybe the herbs didn't eliminate the strep yet but it just caused the bacteria not to show up on the culture. But is that totally not making any sense?

Or is there such a thing as testing too early even when child is having symptoms already?

amother

Black

Thu, Jul 05 2018, 4:47 pm

Echinacea is actually a great herbal antibiotic specifically for strep, but it's hard to believe it took care of the infection that quickly. Chances are it's viral to begin with. Or, your negative culture can be a false negative.

amother

Powderblue

Thu, Jul 05 2018, 5:05 pm

amother wrote:

No that does not make sense. The bacteria is there or it isn’t.

Testing too early? Also no. The bacteria causes the symptoms,

However- was this the rapid test? Or the classic test?

amother

Black

Thu, Jul 05 2018, 5:11 pm

amother wrote:

No that does not make sense. The bacteria is there or it isn’t.

Testing too early? Also no. The bacteria causes the symptoms,

However- was this the rapid test? Or the classic test?

I know people who only get positive cultures several days after symptom onset.

It is also possible to suppress an infection to the extent that the culture won't be sensitive enough to pick it up, and especially with echinacea, which coats the throat, it could have just killed off the local, topical bacteria, but not the infection deeper inside the tissue, which the culture won't pick up.

I still maintain that it's probably viral.

amother

Firebrick

Thu, Jul 05 2018, 5:44 pm

amother wrote:

No that does not make sense. The bacteria is there or it isn’t.

Testing too early? Also no. The bacteria causes the symptoms,

However- was this the rapid test? Or the classic test?

They did a rapid and since it was negative they left it overnight. Total of two days that the culture was observed. Still negative

amother

Firebrick

Thu, Jul 05 2018, 5:46 pm

amother wrote:

She had a dose of echinacea and some other herbs half an hr or less before they ran the test...who knows if it indeed killed the bacteria topically

amother

Teal

Thu, Jul 05 2018, 6:16 pm

In the future, you should let the doctor know if someone is taking herbs or supplements. He can decide how to take into account any effect they may have on the exam or lab tests.