Is it normal to get strep while doing monthly IVIG treatments?

[Rachel]

My son had an IVIG treatment 2 weeks ago and now has strep. I just don't get it. He is homebound. Is he getting strep because someone in the family has been around a person that has strep. Are we bringing it home to him or is the IVIG lowering his immune system. He just had a penicillin shot yesterday morning and he woke up with a fever this morning. I took him into the doctor and he tested positive. Is it normal to get strep while doing monthly IVIG treatments? His vocal tic, headache and tremors are much worse. I just want this nightmare to go away.

[PowPow]

I do not think the ivig matters either way for the strep.

 

Does he have tonsils still?

Yes, this is nightmare for you guys. Did they culture the throat, too? Can you test siblings/family members?

I hope he feels better soon.

[Rachel]

He does have tonsils but it's too big of a risk to do the surgery. The last time he had an outpatient procedure done, his heart rate went way too low. They did do a culture. Our next step is test family members. I'm beginning to wonder if someone is a carrier. No one else in the household is sick or feeling bad.

[Trishb]

It depends what antibiotics he is on and how strong the dose is that he's taking. Augmentin combined with Azithromycin covers all strains of strep. The IVIG will not take care of infections. You need the antibiotics to do that. With him having his tonsils you need to think of the tonsils like filters in an air conditioning system collecting dust, but with his heart rate dropping during a procedure it definitely doesn't seem safe to remove them. It would be worth getting the whole family tested. If someone has high titters they are exposing him.

[Rachel]

We are in the process of getting the whole family tested. I have also been doing another heavy duty round of cleaning . I will be buying new toothbrushes for everyone in the family. The culture was sent off and I'm waiting on results. I called our vet about the cats. Cats do not get strep or carry strep, but dogs do. Thank gooodness we did not get him a service dog. Our son is eligible for one but we want to wait and see if he will need one later on. Right now my son gets the Pencillian G shot every 3 weeks and he was put on AMOX/K CLAV 875 2x daily for 10 days.

[sf_mom]

Rachel:

 

Diluted 35% Food Grade Hydrogen is fantastic for eliminating bacteria on tooth brushes. Bathing in it as well will take care of any topical strep on the body that might be spreading. There is information on-line about its use and dilutions.

 

On another note:

 

Cats are known to carry Toxoplasmosis and Bartonella. I would recommend testing your son for both since you have cates as household pets. It only takes a cat scratching you to transmit these infection 'Cat Scratch Fever'. Both infections can have a huge impact on the immune system and cause PANS symptoms. I would recommend testing through Gallaxy Diagnostics for Bartonella - 3 day blood draw.

 

http://www.galaxydx.com/web/pdfs/hhtestoptions.pdf

 

The rate of Schizophrenia has risen along with the rate of the domestication of cats. Toxoplasmosis is linked with schizophrenia. At some point, it might be important to treat cats and dog/s.

 

Herbs, Diatomaceous earth.

 

http://www.earthworkshealth.com/pets-animals.php

Edited June 12, 2014 by sf_mom

[Rachel]

Thanks for the information on cats. Our cats have had all their vaccinations. I will keep this in mind but our cats have never been outdoors unless this can be passed on by the parent cat. I will check with the Vet and my son's doctor,

 

My son has been checked for the other two things that you have mentioned but maybe we need to do a recheck at this time. Since we have had the cats and started the antibiotics back in December 2013, my son has had trouble with strep only.

 

I suspect the strep is hiding in my son's body and have asked our doctor if he will rerun some strep titer testing.

 

Thanks for the websites. I will check these out.

[Trishb]

You should get lab work done on his titters, then repeat it in 2 months to make sure they are going down. I have never heard of Penicillin G and if it's more effective then Amoxicillian. Seeing he got a breakthrough infection it's important to treat all strains of strep. Adding Azithromycin would cover you. Just check with your doctor to see if the 10 day dose if Amoxicillian is long enough, but by doing the blood work you can track him to see if the strep titters are decreasing over time.

[Rachel]

The strep culture was negative. No pathogens were recovered. My son has been on antibiotics for 7 days and his throat feels no better. I'm wondering if the 2 pills of antibiotics would mess the culture results up. I am going to see if we can get the strep titer test done. My son had the anti-DNase B Antibodies and Antistreptolysin strep test both ran back in December 2013. The antibodies showed up out of range on the test that measures for past strep infections (Anti-DNase B strep antibodies) 309 range is 0-190.

 

The problem I have with that test was that my son never tested positive for a strep test last year 2013. So I am concerned why that test woud show elevated strep antibodies. He had at least one rapid strep culture ran and it was negative in July 2013 and a double ear infection in October 2013. Can ear infections be caused by strep? Could someone explain the differences in these test? I have been trying to figure out when these test need to be done for the most accurate test results. Thanks for any help in advance.

Edited June 16, 2014 by rachel

[Trishb]

The test you should follow for strep titters are the two you listed plus Mycoplasma. If the titters come back elevated then your child needs to be treated with antibiotics until they are back to being normal. The main problem is always who is reading the lab work. Some doctor's feel elevated titters show a past infection which is true, but the titters need to come back to normal. I have been giving my child Curcumin with Bioperene by Pure Encapsulations and I think that also helped. It is a natural anti inflammatory.