Carriers

[Kayanne]

I'm just going to chime in here really quick...I'm not sure if a short post is possible for me...

 

But, when I took my daughters to an ENT to discuss getting their tonsils removed, I told him that my daughter's PANDAS behaviors started to come back despite testing negative 3 times on rapids and once on a 72 hour culture..based on behaviors alone, Dr. L was treating as if she had an actual infection...

 

His response was that those tests are only checking for step A, and there is more than one kind. I don't know how difficult it is to get tested for all strains...

Edited March 23, 2010 by Kayanne

[colleenrn]

To test for all strains of strep, get the swab run as an upper respiratory culture instead of just a throat culture.

Colleen

[Joan Pandas Mom]

But our "assymptomatic carrier" younger dd has cleared sucessfully several times on a 5 day course of Azith. The first time we tried to clear her (with Augmentin) it didn't work. Clindamycin might also be another ab to consider if clearing on Azith. doesn't work.

So, you clear her, and then she resumes carriage at a later time?

 

She'll stay clear if there is no more exposure (like over the summer, or in the spring if there are no strep notices). Last school year she had a couple of positives...she was definitely clear in the fall/summer at the start of school, then we got a strep notice in Oct...positive, then she was clear after tx 2-3 weeks later, then another strep notice in Dec, positive again, then we cleared her and she stayed negative the rest of the year (even after I got strep in April!).

 

I know my nieces were having trouble with strep and they finally realized it was my nephew that was carrying it. From what I remember they just gave him abx and the whole issue seemed to clear up.

 

My youngest son is definitely asymptomatic but I don't know about a carrier. He has had several throat swabs and cultures in the last 2 months that have come back negative but sometimes he has that streppy smell. He's the one with major gut issues so I'm beginning to wonder if he isn't carrying it someplace else.

 

How can they tell if you are a carrier? Will most just have a positive throat culture? I've been wondering about myself as well, though I've had a negative culture in the last month too.

 

It's tempting to take everyone of us, including the dog to have every orafice swabbed and cultured. Sorry to be so graphic but I'm only half joking!!!

[Joan Pandas Mom]

Gina, Thanks for the good laugh here. I needed that!

 

But our "assymptomatic carrier" younger dd has cleared sucessfully several times on a 5 day course of Azith. The first time we tried to clear her (with Augmentin) it didn't work. Clindamycin might also be another ab to consider if clearing on Azith. doesn't work.

So, you clear her, and then she resumes carriage at a later time?

 

She'll stay clear if there is no more exposure (like over the summer, or in the spring if there are no strep notices). Last school year she had a couple of positives...she was definitely clear in the fall/summer at the start of school, then we got a strep notice in Oct...positive, then she was clear after tx 2-3 weeks later, then another strep notice in Dec, positive again, then we cleared her and she stayed negative the rest of the year (even after I got strep in April!).

 

I know my nieces were having trouble with strep and they finally realized it was my nephew that was carrying it. From what I remember they just gave him abx and the whole issue seemed to clear up.

 

My youngest son is definitely asymptomatic but I don't know about a carrier. He has had several throat swabs and cultures in the last 2 months that have come back negative but sometimes he has that streppy smell. He's the one with major gut issues so I'm beginning to wonder if he isn't carrying it someplace else.

 

How can they tell if you are a carrier? Will most just have a positive throat culture? I've been wondering about myself as well, though I've had a negative culture in the last month too.

 

It's tempting to take everyone of us, including the dog to have every orafice swabbed and cultured. Sorry to be so graphic but I'm only half joking!!!

[EAMom]

I'm confused, once again! My friend, whose son is a carrier told me that her pedi told her he wasn't contagious. She said even if carriers are put on ABX's for a month they won't get rid of strep. Is this true?

 

this (simplistic explanation) is from medline plus (I added the bold):

 

If repeated cases of strep still occur in a family, you might check to see if someone is a strep carrier. Carriers have strep in their throats, but the bacteria do not make them sick. Sometimes, treating them can prevent others from getting strep throat.

 

I assume what medline plus means by "sick" is sore throat/fever/etc...not necessarily PANDAS symptoms?? But really a PANDAS child is "sick", just in a different way! So, I suppose it is a matter of technical debate if you call a PANDAS child (who has no typical strep symptoms, but cultures positive) a "carrier" or not!

Edited March 24, 2010 by EAMom

[Joan Pandas Mom]

My fiance works in the ER. He is exposed to strep all the time. He is having a culture and ASO titer done today. This ought to be interesting. My non-PANDAS son and I haven't gotten our results back yet. Hopefully today.

 

I'm confused, once again! My friend, whose son is a carrier told me that her pedi told her he wasn't contagious. She said even if carriers are put on ABX's for a month they won't get rid of strep. Is this true?

 

this (simplistic explanation) is from medline plus (I added the bold):

 

If repeated cases of strep still occur in a family, you might check to see if someone is a strep carrier. Carriers have strep in their throats, but the bacteria do not make them sick. Sometimes, treating them can prevent others from getting strep throat.

 

I assume what medline plus means by "sick" is sore throat/fever/etc...not necessarily PANDAS symptoms?? But really a PANDAS child is "sick", just in a different way! So, I suppose it is a matter of technical debate if you call a PANDAS child (who has no typical strep symptoms, but cultures positive) a "carrier" or not!