strep in the classroom

[marylandmom]

I posted yesterday about my dd8 rageful afternoon. We did a rapid ( at home) and it was negative last night.

 

Got a phone call from nurse school....classmate was picked up early, taken to Dr., tested positive for strep. Nurse wanted to let me know. ( I was grateful, they are catching on, maybe).

Picked my daughter up and ran into a different classmates mother. She said she kept her dd home today, she seemed "off" ( said her neck hurt). I gave her a rapid test to administer. Sure enough, positive, too!!

 

Is this possible? Our daughter could be REACTING to strep in her classroom? To this extent? Seems so far fetched but I know it has been mentioned on the forum.

 

We are scheduled for a tonsillectomy in 10 days. Now I am wondering if a steriod taper ( never done one) would serve better right now? Lots of rage again tonight.

 

Oh, and NO, she does not act up at school, at all. Saves it all for home

[marylandmom]

oh, and I forgot ( I am tired!) that my dd8 told me at the end of the day today that her "leg was shaking and could not make it stop". Weird.

[dcmom]

Yes. We have seen this countless times. For me dd, once the exposure goes away, she improves fairly quickly.

 

I believe this was documented in the new paper, pandas a way forward.

[thereishope]

If this is due to exposure (which it sounds like it to me) and not infection, I wouldn't do a steroid burst just yet. Give her a few more days. If she can take an anti-inflammatory like Ibuprofen, you can try that. If you feel strep isn't finished going around the class, you could possibly keep her home for a couple days and let it runs its course in the classroom.

 

As for her legs, is it like a restless leg syndrome? That is a symptom for some kids.

[marylandmom]

Dcmom and VIckie, thanks for your replys!

[marylandmom]

Is Pandas, a way forward posted on the forum? I am trying to google it.

[EAMom]

Is your dd8 on antibiotics? which one and what dose?

 

I agree, wait on the steroids.

 

You might repeat the rapid 1 more time and also do a 72 hour culture (esp. if she's not on abs).

[EAMom]

Here you go:

 

It's the Nov. 2010 "Landmark" Paper by Murphy, Kurlan, and Leckman

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/News-from-PANDASNetwork-org--Division-of-ThinkPANDAS--Inc-.html?soid=1103470649803&aid=nC0apoan838

Edited December 8, 2010 by EAMom

[dut]

Hi - our dd had arm tremor with her 1 of her episodes, could this be the leg shaking. Dr B felt it was probably caused by elevated dopamine....

[thereishope]

The exposure part in the paper is on page 2 near the top. Here's the quote from it...

 

 

"...Careful reading of these case series suggests that GAS

is the inciting trigger and that future exacerbations are activated not

only by GAS infection but also by GAS exposure and viral illnessas well."

 

 

Also, like EAMom said, you can retest her. Even if a person contracts strep, it can take 3-5 days for a strep test to detect it. Or any abs can give you a false negative.

Edited December 8, 2010 by Vickie

[butterflymom]

=

Edited February 2, 2016 by tampicc

[airial95]

My son is very sensitive to exposures - which is why our recovery has been so slow - every time he's making great strides, someone else has strep which sets us back. These "flare ups" are just about as powerful as an exacerbation. So yes - it is very possible that he's simply reacting to others. I agree with Vickie, try some ibuprofen, or keeping him home. Is he on any antibiotics right now? If he's on a low dose, you may want to consider going to a full dose for a bit until this wave passes.

[Kbossman1]

Hi Marylandmom, can you tell me where you get the rapid strep tests/ order them? I was looking for them online earlier, but since you have a brand that you use, and now I know it works.....I thought I would ask you where they came from .

[SarahJane]

Does this make sense?

 

If the body has an autoimmune reaction and is always making too many antibodies to strep, then when the strep appears in the classroom, our children would already have tons of antibodies circulating in their blood. It would take care of strep in the sense that they wouldn't develop an infection of the throat/sinuses, but the body is then activated more, makes more antibodies, which react with brain tissue/cause inflammation. . . ..so exacerbation/behaviors turn up.

 

Could this be why many of our kids are asymptomatic, but are the canary in the coal mine behaviorally?

 

I'm just a Dr. Mom, but that's kind of the way I look at it. ANYTIME the immune system is tripped, it can trigger PANDAS symptoms, even if the kids don't get "sick." That's why allergies, viruses, etc... are triggers for this too, not just bacteria. The body is smart, but still has to go look at whatever the invader is to determine how to react & ramps up while it's doing the look-see. I'm so glad I'm homeschooling.