Exposure to someone being treated for Strep

[VickyLH]

Hi everyone,

 

My son seems to be improving fairly well after 5 weeks on Azithromycin. However, I have a question about exposure response in PANDAS kids. My son had been doing very well the past several days. He's had next to no OCD issues, his tics have really subsided, his only issues seem to be hyperactivity and difficulty falling asleep.

 

Last night my husband and I finally had a date night, but when the sitters arrived (neighbor twins) they casually announced they had been sick with Strep (arghh!) and were currently on antibiotics (not sure how long, but they probably had at least 2 days of abx). I was hoping that since they were under treatment and my PANDAS son is currently taking abx (150 mg/day) that things would be ok. However, this afternoon and tonight it seems my ds's symptoms have kicked up a bit. He's anxious and says he feels sad and seems to be having some OCD issues again.

 

My question is, could he still react to someone who is being treated for Strep? I've heard that once a person has been on abx for Strep for at least 24 hours, they are no longer contagious. But now I'm wondering if a PANDAS child's immune system can still be set off by being around someone who is being treated for Strep. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

We decided to give him some Ibuprofen and we upped his abx dose to 300 mg for tonight just in case. It's frustrating that people just don't understand how Strep can affect our son. I have discussed my son's PANDAS issues with my neighbor, so I was surprised she would let her daughters babysit for us without even asking if their current Strep would be an issue. It really seems that everyone we're in contact with has or has had Strep lately. I hate STREP!

 

I appreciate finding out if anyone else has had similar experience with exposure to people under treatment for Strep. Just trying to wrap my head around it and trying to figure who we should avoid and for how long.

 

Have a good night!

 

Vicky

[butterflymom]

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Edited February 2, 2016 by tampicc

[Mary M]

My dd is very sensitive to exposures. I am sure an exposure such as the one you described would certainly produce a response in her.

Mary

from Michigan

[airial95]

My son is very senstive to exposures - which has made our overall recovery slower than I'd like (it seems strep was EVERYWHERE last year.) But as tampicc said, it's usually only a 3-4 day spike in symptoms, and then he's back to where he was prior to the exposure.