Now DH + for strep without symptoms...

[matis_mom]

DH went to the doctor to get his thyroid re-checked. Since they had to draw blood, he asked for ASO again. Again, it came back at 252 (both of us seem to be stuck on that number no matter what). The doctor (whom I also see) was not sure if we should treat or not, since it does not seem to come down either way, maybe this is our "normal"... But she run a rapid just to see, and it came back positive Now, DH has NO SYMPTOMS. She gave him a month of Amoxicillin 875 bid. Will this work, or should we be asking for Clindamycin? Is he considered a "carrier" then, or is carriage just when you get a positive culture (as opposed to rapid) without symptoms?

I don't know what to do. I sort of had the same scenario, and when I started taking Augmentin, I actually developed all the symptoms, had to switch antibiotics, and finally got my tonsils out (dh's tonsils have been out since childhood). After all that, plus a round of Cipro, my ASO is still over 250. Right now I'm on doxycycline for Lyme, and I'll probably retest after that.

I really don't know what to do.

Good news is DS is not doing too badly but I was wondering how come we see symptoms when he is on a boatload of abxs for Lyme...

Edited May 5, 2011 by mati's mom

[eljomom]

When we saw the I.D. doc at Georgetown (I know, not a big pandas person), she said Clindamycin is what is needed for carrier or hard to treat strep. Also, some people just have higher titers....that is their norm. She also ordered a protocol (which we haven't done) for the whole family...in case there was strep carriage, but also said that if someone is a carrier, they are just going to carry it again when they are exposed to strep again, and that strep is everywhere. Anyhow, the protocol was for entire family to take daily bleach baths (or for adults, hibiclens showers) for a week. Also for that week, twice daily gargle with a prescription gargle. Also twice daily swabbing nostrils with mupirocin ointment. Then the next week, cut down. Pretty sure it was something like that....i have it written down somewhere.

[thereishope]

Amoxicillin can erradicate strep in some asymptomatic people (it did in my asymptomatic kids the first time they had strep), but knowing the failure rate and everything you've gone through, I'd ask for something else.I ask for a different antibiotic now even though I know they have cleared on amox in the past.

 

As for the Cipro, I thought that wasn't that great for strep so that may not have helped anyway.

[matis_mom]

Amoxicillin can erradicate strep in some asymptomatic people (it did in my asymptomatic kids the first time they had strep), but knowing the failure rate and everything you've gone through, I'd ask for something else.I ask for a different antibiotic now even though I know they have cleared on amox in the past.

 

As for the Cipro, I thought that wasn't that great for strep so that may not have helped anyway.

You are right, I think we need something else... DH is going to be spending tons of times outdoors (work related) so the doc was trying to take that into account and not give him something he couldn't be out in the sun too much with, but I wish they had given him clindamycin or something. Maybe we'll give it a few weeks and see.

 

Also, a friend was telling me she heard/read about a abx-resistant strain of strep that was "accidentally" included in the flu vaccine... has anyone heard about this. I will follow up with her and see if she has any links to articles...

[thereishope]

I didn't hear anything about that. If you find out more info, please post. I've heard that strep and the flu often piggy back each other and that people may be more susceptible to strep after get a flu vaccination, but not that any strep was actually included in one.

 

 

Also, a friend was telling me she heard/read about a abx-resistant strain of strep that was "accidentally" included in the flu vaccine... has anyone heard about this. I will follow up with her and see if she has any links to articles...