Back form Infectious Disease dr, some ideas to share

[matis_mom]

We went to see an infectious disease specialist yesterday. She was very interested in our case. She does not have experience with PANDAS per se, but understood the importance of erradicating strep in our situation. She was very impressed at the megadose of Augmentin ds12 is taking daily!

 

She said a first line of defense is to have EVERYONE take a bath with 1/4 cup of clorox in it, every day for a week, and then move on to twice a week for MONTHS (she said to keep it up until the summer). During that first week, take advantage and disinfect the house (wash all linens in hot water, disinfect bathroom, switches, handles, etc). Those who are not into baths can scrub with surgical soap from head to toe. And use a special mouth wash (it has the same ingredient as the antibacterial soap, hydro something?), but only for those who are older and can safely spit it out without swallowing.

 

This is what they do for people with MRSA, and it's a first line of defense before we move on to trying more antibiotics on the rest of the family.

 

So, we'll try that next week and see what happens. Matias is doing very well right now, and hopefully with this protocol he'll stay that way. The dr. was very nice and sympathetic to the fact that we are dealing with a large family. She gave me her e-mail and said to keep her posted and if we have more strep troubles we will move on to other measures, maybe putting Matias plus any carriers on Rifampin (sp?)

 

I'd thought I would share this in case someone else is also dealing with recurrent strep that seems to linger in the house.

 

Isabel

[Chemar]

yikes!! well I guess this may be ok for some kids....and I can see the possible benefit in eradicating infections..

but chlorine is a major tic trigger for my son...to the point where he cannot swim in chlorinated pools, we have special filters on all our faucets, and I cannot use any bleach in laundry or cleaning products

 

this chlorine sensitivity seems to occur in a number of kids with Tourette, and we have quite a few threads about it on the TS forum

[matis_mom]

I will keep that warning about chlorine allegies in mind and see if I observe any tics, my son's tics have been gone for a while (he had the eye-blinking), but if I notice anything, I'll now why!

 

The mouth wash is chlorhexidine (if I'm reading the script correctly), and its prescription only. I think I might just stick with colloidal silver, which my PANDAS ds has been using for a while, and is safe to swallow.

[Kayanne]

Very interesting about adding clorine to the bathwater...I've only been cleaning with it. Did the doctor tell you specifically what this was supposed to do...was it for impetigo? Or was it to prevent spreading from child to child who share baths? Did she mention a specific depth for the bathwater...so the clorine is diluted properly?

 

Thanks,

Karen

[jewels]

Just thought I'd post this article as my son has persistant nose infections. We have only one tumbler in the bathroom that all our toothbrushes are stored in. We do rinse our brushes, and change them about every six weeks, but I have now decided to soak them in baby bottle sterilising fluid. My PANDAS dd and sons toothbrushes will never meet again!

 

 

CHRONIC STREP INFECTIONS AND TOOTHBRUSHES

 

Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

 

If you have recurrent throat infections with staph or strep bacteria, check your toothbrush, your nose and your mate. Having staph in your nose prevents simple cuts from healing (2).

 

 

A report in the Archives of Otolaryngology shows that beta strep, that causes rheumatic fever, can be grown from toothbrushes of 30 percent of children who were infected with that germ and that beta strep can persist in unwashed toothbrushes for 15 days and washed toothbrushes for 3 days (3). Another bacteria called staph aureus can persist in the noses of people after they have taken the appropriate antibiotic (4). Staph grows so luxuriously in the wet nasal membranes that it is difficult to cure by taking oral antibiotics. You can also be reinfected by a mate who has no symptoms at all. If you suffer recurrent staph or strep infections, ask your doctor to culture your nose and your toothbrush.

 

If you have a staph aureus infection, apply an antibiotic ointment such as bacitracin or mupiricin in your nose. (4,5,6). You can also culture your mate and your toothbrush. If you still have not found a source, ask your doctor to culture his stethoscope. It may be the source of your infection (7).

 

Jules

[Chemar]

toothbrushes can also be kept clean by soaking in a diluted hydrogen peroxide solution..we store our brushes individually in cups of the peroxide solution

[jewels]

Thanks for the info Cheri,

 

Our Dr won't give abx for my sons nose infection, unless he shows impertigo on skin around his nose, as he said abx don't touch an infection in the nose. He has been on steriods daily now for years, he cannot understand the connection to ds nose infections and dds symptoms.

[reactive]

Thanks for the info Cheri,

 

Our Dr won't give abx for my sons nose infection, unless he shows impertigo on skin around his nose, as he said abx don't touch an infection in the nose. He has been on steriods daily now for years, he cannot understand the connection to ds nose infections and dds symptoms.

I am on my way now to the family doctor to take ds9 who has strep smell again, and I think it is in his nose or sinuses...his symptoms have been much worse this week...and my mom got impetigo on her hips and legs after babysitting him the other week...???

[colleenrn]

Reactive,

 

Does you ever get negative throat cultures when you know he has strep? You could have them sawb his nose and run the culture the same way.

 

Jewels,

 

Antibiotics can reach an infection in the nose. I am not sure why your physician told you that. He could easily have strep A in his nose.

 

Colleen

[jewels]

We get abx cream from our general practioner in the health clinic, but we are due to see Allergy specialist at hospital in March, his nose swabs sometimes come back strep, and then we get oral abx. The clinc drs are quite reserved when giving out oral abx and only give them if fever present. He often has that horrible infection smell, but no fever. We are hoping that the immunotherapy will stop the inflamation and triggered infections.

[jewels]

reactive,

 

We tried an isotonic nasal spray to clean out his nose daily before steriods given. We do notice a decrease in smell. Let me know if you want me to PM product to you.

[DawnMCH]

What about xylitol nose spray? Isn't xylitol supposed to kill strep? I bought some, but my kids balked at it. I also bought them each their own bottle of xylitol mouthwash which I make them gargle with each night. I'm probably not changing toothbrushes often enough though.

 

-Dawn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

reactive,

 

We tried an isotonic nasal spray to clean out his nose daily before steriods given. We do notice a decrease in smell. Let me know if you want me to PM product to you.

[jewels]

We use a 100% natural sea water nasal spray, it comes out under pressure, and my son only complains of how cold it is. Can I post the name of product on site?

[MichaelTampa]

Cheri,

 

I like the idea of hydrogen peroxide. Could you share how much you dilute it--how much hydrogen peroxide to how much water--and how frequently you change the mix? Thanks.

 

Michael

[jewels]

I just remembered, my dad had a knee operation two years ago. His Surgeon requested him to bathe in natural Tea Tree oil as a natural antibactrial skin cleanser. I would check for any reactions before you use it.

 

I also use tea tree shampoo on the kids to ward off nits. We have been nit free for years