C-Diff a Growing Problem

[Joefnh]

Shirley I will have the implant placed and an abutment or healing cap will be placed on it, that should be fine for the trip. I just want to get rid of the pain while chewing on that side with the half broken molar. You right though it does take a few months to complete the work.

--Joe

[tex]

Zizzle, I've heard that if a person gets multiple strep infections, it's sometimes because a family member or someone close to that person is an asymptomatic strep carrier and keeps reinfecting the person.

Dogs can also carry the bacteria. If everyone else checks out OK, and you have a dog, he or she might need to be checked out by the vet.

You're probably correct that she is being re-exposed to it in daycare. I could be wrong, but I see no reason to believe that asymptomatic carriers are not infectious.

When I was in the hospital, about a year ago, which resulted in surgery, before they moved me into ICU, they gave me a nose swab test, which I assumed at the time, was to check for staph bacteria, since the nose is a common harbor for them for most carriers, (I had had a MRSA infection, a year or so prior to that). I have no way of knowing if a positive result was the reason why they gave me a private ICU room, or whether all ICU patients have private rooms in that hospital, but anyway, I had an ICU room all to myself, and I suspect it was because of a positive staph test - IOW, I'm now a carrier.

Tex

[explosive]

Hi Joe!

I wish you all the best with your oral surgery! My brother n law had that done and he was 3 weeks getting it completed! But he had complications!



Sharon

[Zizzle]

Dogs can also carry the bacteria. If everyone else checks out OK, and you have a dog, he or she might need to be checked out by the vet.

You're probably correct that she is being re-exposed to it in daycare. I could be wrong, but I see no reason to believe that asymptomatic carriers are not infectious.

Tex

We have 2 cats, and one of them often sleeps on her bed with her (he rarely goes outside). She has even licked his fur on occasion (I don't know why...3 yr olds...). I've read that strep is all over our environment, in the dirt, etc. So susceptibilty is a greater factor in my mind than exposure. If it were about exposure, our whole family would have it, as well as ALL the kids in daycare.

[tex]

If it were about exposure, our whole family would have it, as well as ALL the kids in daycare.

True, but the less exposure there is, the less likely susceptible individuals are to contract it.

Cats can't get strep throat, of course, but they can carry the bacteria, if they are around humans who have the disease. If you are having problems with recurring infections, the cat should be treated, since that's your daughter's most likely source of reinfection, (if they sleep together). Amoxicillin or azithromycin from the vet will take care of the strep in your cat, but don't let the vet talk you into using Baytril, because that probably won't work, despite the fact that many vets think that it will.

Tex

[JoAnn]

Zizzle, I teach school and strep has been running rampant here in Utah. I was sure I had it a couple of weeks, ago, but it turned out to be a bad sore throat, cold, and evolved into a sinus infection. My job is like working in a germ-incubation unit.

Just to throw this out to Tex, Polly, and others, I'm just wondering about antibiotics. I know Cipro is the preferred one on this board, but I know last May when I had a cracked tooth and had to have a root canal, the dentist said Cipro would not be effective with the infection I had, so I ended up on amoxicillan. I did Ok on it, so when I got my latest sinus infection I didn't argue with the dr. when he said amoxicillan would be best. Is it as effective for sinus and tooth issues? Should I insist on it next time I need one?
Thanks, JoAnn

[tex]

Hi JoAnn,

Maybe Polly has better information, but as far as I'm aware, your doctor is right - Cipro is probably not a great choice for a tooth infection. The fluoroquinolones, (including Cipro), are typically used to treat things such as most common urinary tract infections, skin infections, and respiratory infections, (such as sinus infections, pneumonia, bronchitis, etc.). Since they work for skin infections, they also work for intestinal infections, (because they're both a type of epithelia).

Amoxicillan is just an upgraded form of penicillin, with an extended spectrum of action, so that it's effective against a wider range of bacteria.

Actually, there is some question about whether any antibiotic is truly effective for tooth/gum infections, since it may never get to the source of the infection. Presumably, it may help to prevent the infection from spreading, but as far as I'm aware, treating tooth infections is not exactly a cake walk.

Love,
Tex

[JoAnn]

Thanks Tex, that will help me in the future.
JoAnn

[MBombardier]

Zizzle, my roommate in college and I passed strep back and forth one spring. I ended up in the hospital with a fever so high for so long that I had brain damage. I still drag my right foot just enough to see a difference in my footsteps in snow. It stopped when my father came and got me and took me home. I threw up in the back seat all the way home from the erythromycin. That was the sickest I've ever been.

Is there someone who could perhaps watch her in your home instead of her going to daycare for a month or so?

[Zizzle]

Boy, I wish I could afford to keep her home. It's true that she doesn't get strep when she's on long breaks from daycare. And yet the daycare director, when made aware if the number of cases recently, declared at a parents meeting that they do everything they can to clean, that strep is everywhere (I agree), and that the child who had it more than once (my kid) "is not normal. There is something wrong with her immune system." Nice. I've tried to ask them to stop the practice of toothbrushing during sick season, because they seem to comingle brushes and rarely replace them (gross!). I lobbied and accomplished to get "New Toothbrush Tuesday." But it's not enough.

We have no grandparents in town and few family members. If I'm really desperate, I'll have to fly my mom up from Guatemala. And I'll still pay $1180 month for the daycare anyway. This sucks.

[MBombardier]

Wow, that's expensive. I know your schedule is maxed out right now, especially with the house renovation, but maybe you could find a home daycare provider for her. When my kids were in daycare, I was happiest with a situation where they were with only a few other kids in a family situation. Many homeschooling families do daycare (I have done this myself) to supplement the husband's income. They just incorporate the extra kids in with their own. I would think it would be less expensive, too, and when she is not in daycare, surely it would cost less to keep her place open.

[Gayle]

Zizzle,

Would kinda wonder if your little girl might not be a "strep carrier" herself? That's always a possibility when they are repeatedly sick.

That has to assessed for that when they are NOT sick.

Might not hurt to ask to have her looked at for that.

Yes, day-care does become something of a petri dish, with all the children "sharing" all their very best stuff back and forth.


Gayle

[Zizzle]

I definitely plan to get a confirmatory throat culture maybe a week or 2 after she finishes the antibiotic. She wasn't particularly sick this round. No fever, and she only complained of throat pain one day. I brought her in just in case, and sure enough...

Her last round was treated with Zithromax, which strep seems to be growing resistant to, so maybe it never fully cleared. Hell, maybe the daycare will kick US out!

Unfortunately, after full-body skin reactions to amoxicillin and clindamycin, Zithromax and cephalexin are our only options. We went yo an allergist fir confirmatory drug allergy testing, but since it's not an IgE mediated allergy, she could not help us.

So as udual, Dr Mom is on her own. Ugh.