negative strep

[smartyjones]

when i was telling another mom at school about pandas, she told me she gets a horrible strep-induced ezcema. she'd had extreme trouble with it. her dermatologist now puts her on abx if her throat feels sore. so do think strep can cause skin issues.

[smartyjones]

there was a mention on another thread that kids on abx can/may test negative to strep but still be having an active infection. i couldn't find it so am not sure i am saying it right. i don't understand this.

 

oh no sorry, sorry - i just saw that post come up again and it was that kids on abx can have + cultures. . . so now my question is - how much do you trust a culture? if you're having an exacerbation but the culture is neg, can you trust that it is something else that is causing it, such as virus, etc. and it may take time for calming down of system.

 

my son had the flu 2 weeks ago, it was mild and he got over it fairly quickly. i was thinking behaviors we are now seeing are b/c of that kicking up things. my husband said he thought for sure he had strep b/c of his behavior. of course, he hasn't searched for the end of the internet like me and doesn't know much of the ins and outs of pandas - not that i do, but you know what i mean. he was neg on the rapid, we're waiting for the culture.

 

he's had positive strep results in the past -- + rapid at 22months; neg culture at 3 years with intense potty training phobia, holding urine, vomited - ped thought his throat looked like strep; high titers and positive culture last fall at age 4.

 

so, how much weight do you put in cultures and do you still think to throw everything at an exacerbation and hope something works?

 

thanks!

[thereishope]

You can strep on the skin. 2 of my older son's classmates had that last year. They looked like blisters or sores.

 

In my son's case, he is strep free and has been so for months. I have seen some slight PANDAS resurfacing when he has a virus. For him, I give him Ibuprofen and it helps. When his virus goes away, the PANDAS that resurfaced goes away. But when it is a viral trigger, for my son, the PANDAS that resurface is very minor compared to strep triggered PANDAS. Again, the reaction to a viral trigger and the severity varies child to child. I just learned my son's "pattern" for the time being.

 

In regards to a culture, I guess it depends if they cultured the part that would have the strep and if they got a good enough culture. Not all strep is in the throat.

[matis_mom]

there was a mention on another thread that kids on abx can/may test negative to strep but still be having an active infection. i couldn't find it so am not sure i am saying it right. i don't understand this.

 

oh no sorry, sorry - i just saw that post come up again and it was that kids on abx can have + cultures. . . so now my question is - how much do you trust a culture? if you're having an exacerbation but the culture is neg, can you trust that it is something else that is causing it, such as virus, etc. and it may take time for calming down of system.

 

my son had the flu 2 weeks ago, it was mild and he got over it fairly quickly. i was thinking behaviors we are now seeing are b/c of that kicking up things. my husband said he thought for sure he had strep b/c of his behavior. of course, he hasn't searched for the end of the internet like me and doesn't know much of the ins and outs of pandas - not that i do, but you know what i mean. he was neg on the rapid, we're waiting for the culture.

 

he's had positive strep results in the past -- + rapid at 22months; neg culture at 3 years with intense potty training phobia, holding urine, vomited - ped thought his throat looked like strep; high titers and positive culture last fall at age 4.

 

so, how much weight do you put in cultures and do you still think to throw everything at an exacerbation and hope something works?

 

thanks!

We went through an exacerbation with ds at the beginning of the month, and another just now. In both cases, he was just reacting to someone else in the household having strep. So I would say if he is not testing positive himself, check other family members/close friends... We just found two of his sisters have strep, even though they had NO SYMPTOMS WHATSOEVER.

In our case, it seems he doesn't get "sick", but just being exposed causes a reaction.

[EAMom]

But when it is a viral trigger, for my son, the PANDAS that resurface is very minor compared to strep triggered PANDAS. Again, the reaction to a viral trigger and the severity varies child to child. I just learned my son's "pattern" for the time being.

 

Some viral triggers are worse than others. For us H1N1 was a bad trigger. Fifth's dz also triggered symptoms, but it wasn't quite as bad. Strep exposure (such as when a family member has strep) also triggered symptoms for us, but nothing is as bad as a strep INFECTION for causing an exacerbation.

[thereishope]

I also think the severity of viral triggered setbacks has to do with how soon after the last strep infection was. Like the cold that happened rather soon after my son's last strep infection was let's say "on the lower side of medium" and the allergy induced one that was less than a month after strep was actually pretty bad to the point we brought him in for strep test. But, the viral ones he's gotten months after being strep free are rather minor to the point if you didn't know PANDAS you'd say he was acting that way just because he had a virus.

 

So out of curiosity, EAMom, you say that H1N1 was big trigger for you. How soon after the last + strep test did that occur?

 

Our H1N1 occurred about 7 months after his last + strep. He had a setback due to H1N1, but it wasn't that bad and didn't last long.

[EAMom]

I also think the severity of viral triggered setbacks has to do with how soon after the last strep infection was. Like the cold that happened rather soon after my son's last strep infection was let's say "on the lower side of medium" and the allergy induced one that was less than a month after strep was actually pretty bad to the point we brought him in for strep test. But, the viral ones he's gotten months after being strep free are rather minor to the point if you didn't know PANDAS you'd say he was acting that way just because he had a virus.

 

So out of curiosity, EAMom, you say that H1N1 was big trigger for you. How soon after the last + strep test did that occur?

 

Our H1N1 occurred about 7 months after his last + strep. He had a setback due to H1N1, but it wasn't that bad and didn't last long.

 

PANDAS dd hasn't had a positive strep test since March 08 (when she was in the hospital). She has been on abs since that time (1st Augmentin, then amoxcillin, cefitiofur, then azith starting June 08). However, she does respond to family member having strep (colonization??) and I had strep for 1 week in late April 09 (PANDAS dd lost all ability to write that week, started getting better once I got on abs!) and then H1N1 in June 09. Interestingly, after H1N1 we checked her CaM kinase ll and it was 253 (higher than the SC kids) which is the highest Dr. C. had ever seen. In early April 09 (before my strep infection/H1N1) she was "just" in the high PANDAS range. So I don't know if the Cam elevation was mainly from H1N1, the strep, or both...after H1N1 she was really irritable, lots of social anxiety, moody behavior (I'm not so sure about handwriting....it was summer vacation). In April after my strep exposure her behavior wasn't that bad, but the handwriting was very noticeable.