Strep B?

[SEAMom]

My DS15 has PANDAS and we are waiting for insurance approval for IVIG. This past week my normally healthy DD17 went to the doctor with a sore throat and fever. They did a strep test and it came back negative. My DS symptoms have been flaring all weekend yet my daughter seems to be almost feeling now at 100%. Yet this morning I got a call from the pediatrician's office saying that the culture came back positive for Strep B. They said they usually don't treat this and that this is not the strain usually associated with PANDAS. My DS's PANDAS doc is not in on Monday's. Has anyone else had a past experience with Strep B and PANDAS? Do I need to worry? Should I get my daughter on abx? My son is still on Augmentin 875mg 2X a day.

[dcmom]

Im sorry you are dealing with this.

 

We had a weird experience with Strep B this past year. I was really sick a lot of the year, due in part, to my first year working in a preschool. My older daughter also had a major flare up that we were fighting much of the year.

 

I was sick, and was cultured and weirdly it came back as Strep B. My doc didn't know anything about it, but did give me antibiotics (which didn't help really). What I had I think, was viral, with a coincidental (?) positive strep B.

 

My daughter was improving from her flare up, and contracted my virus. She was swabbed, no strep, although the ped we saw wasn't sure that the culture would show strep B. She gave her antibiotics to be on the safe side. My daughter definitely flared, due to the virus.

 

In the end- I am not sure what the answer is, and how Strep B was involved. It was amazing to me how the docs we saw, knew so little about it.

[mommybee]

Only strep A causes PANDAS, and only certain strains at that, put antigens on the cell wall that which are mistaken by the immune system. If your son is on 875 mg of Augmentin XR twice daily, he should be protected from contracting it. The research seems to indicate that penicillin products are most effective against this bacteria. Please let us know what your doctor says.

Edited September 9, 2015 by mommybee

[SEAMom]

Ok - I heard back from my DD pediatrician's office and they said that PANDAS is not typically associated with Strep B so she does not need to be treated with abx since she is feeling fine now.

 

I then heard back from my DS PANDAS doctor and she said my DD absolutely had to be treated with abx and that the whole family had to be cultured in case we were carriers. Now I don't know what to do. My son is still having a really rough time today. I don't know how long it should take for his immune system to calm down from this strep exposure.

 

My daughter has juvenile arthritis so I hate to tax her immune system anymore and put her on abx if she really does not have to go on them. I should have just put her on abx at the beginning of high school because she is the one that brings all the bugs home - she is the one that brought home the initial strep that infected my DS.

 

! I HATE THIS!!!!

[mama2alex]

Hi Seamom,

 

I just read your post from a while back saying that your son developed PANDAS/PANS after his HPV vaccines. Given that his immune system had a bad reaction to a vaccine, it follows that really anything could trigger it, not just a particular strain of strep. I'd urge you to talk to an integrative or functional medicine doctor. They look for root causes of illness and can treat immune system dysfunction. Given the vaccine reactions, I just don't know that abx will be enough.

[Sirena]

Strep B seems to be what got my son going down this road....

[sarojane]

Read up on Bartonella. This causes very PANDASY symptoms.