ASO +

[JenniferG]

When do you treat "healthy" family members? We saw Dr. B and he did ASO and Myco on my husband and me and these are our results:

 

Me

ASO +

ASO Titer 200

 

Mycoplasma IGG 1.15 H

 

DNASE B -

 

 

 

Spouse

 

ASO +

ASO Titer 400

 

Mycoplasma IGG 1.89H

Mycoplasma OGM 162 L

DNASE B <.95

 

Edited March 5, 2015 by jenniferg

[mommybee]

The norms for different labs vary so without knowing which lab was used, it's hard to answer the question about titers. If the blood was run by the tech in Dr. Bouboulis's office, it would have been sent out to Quest by Clinical Laboratory Partners. Quest uses a cut off of 200 for the ASO test, making your result negative and your husband's positive. However, a single titer result isn't a reliable measure of illness because the body is designed to make antibodies to fight disease. Titers go up and down depending on exposure. Accordingly, a single high reading only indicates a recent exposure. Infectious disease doctors are trained to look at titer trending. Because strep titers take about 6 weeks to peak and even longer to decline, another sample would need to be drawn two months from the date of the last one in order to determine whether the number of antibodies are falling or rising. Only if they remained steady or went up, would it be reasonable to assume a current infection.

 

Throat cultures which don't rely on counting antibodies are a far more reliable measure of current infection. Because I know that Dr. Bouboulis doesn't typically do throat swabs in the office, I would suggest that your husband go elsewhere for this because it is the fastest and most accurate way to determine whether he is a strep carrier. The rapid strep test has a high false negative rate, so he should either ask for the traditional send out or one of newer tests (Illumigene makes both a PCR and a molecular assay test).

 

With regard to Mycoplasma Pneumoniae, IgG only indicates that a person has had the illness. High IgG titers indicate immunity. You and your husband do not presently have mycoplasma pneumoniae.

[Mayzoo]

I would say treat if your titers are positive and you see unresolved, otherwise unexplained symptoms in your child (and likely no harm will be caused to you or hubby by treating). If you treat and the symptoms lessen, then you should continue to treat until you both are in the negatives. If you treat and your titers drop, but your child's symptoms remain unresolved, then you need to keep looking for the unfound cause.

 

I know when I become ill, even mildly, my child reacts usually prior to my having any symptoms.