Strep

The flu has not been a big problem in our neck of the woods this year, but strep sure has.  Our doctors here have seen a lot of it.  I get an email from the school whenever a child in one of my boy's classes has been diagnosed with strep.  I have had many of those emails.

 

Near the end of February, on a Monday, both Luke and Porter developed a fever and Luke also had a sore throat.  I kept both home from school/preschool the next day.  The last 2-3 times I took Luke in for a strep test, it was negative, so I was inclined to wait a little longer since it costs us $230 just for the office visit alone (until our $3000 deductible is fulfilled).  Luke woke up the following day with the fever and sore throat still present.  After looking in his mouth, I was pretty sure he had strep, so off to the doctor we went.  Strep it was.

 

Porter, on the other hand, had bounced back quickly.  His low-grade fever was gone in less than 24 hours and he never complained of a sore throat, no matter how many times I asked.  Luke was diagnosed late Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday I had this nagging feeling I should take Porter in, even though he appeared perfectly healthy.  The big boys got home from school, which is the craziest time of the day at our house...homework, dinner, piano practice, swimming lessons, fighting...yadda, yadda, yadda.  As we sat down to play a game together (in an attempt to tame the crazy dragons) I looked over at Porter and discovered he was covered in a rash.  I knew we were headed to the doctor the following morning.

 

  As I researched more about strep that night, as Porter slept, I realized that his strep had probably progressed to Scarlet Fever (in less than 4 days!).  At the doctor the next day, she didn't even do a strep test because his rash was clearly a Scarlet Fever rash, caused by a strep infection.  If you catch a strep infection too late it can turn into Rheumatic Fever, which can turn out badly.  I expressed my concern over this with the doctor, but was relieved to find out that as long as you catch strep within the first 9 days (and treat with antibiotics), the chance of it progressing to Rheumatic Fever is extremely low.  Good to know for the future!

David checked on Porter after putting him to bed Thursday night and snapped a picture.  It is a little difficult to see the rash in this picture, but there was no mistaking it in person.  The rash covered his whole body, but was most prominent on his cheeks (which is one of the classic signs of Scarlet Fever).  The rash is described as feeling like sand paper, which it did.  He never complained about the rash, not even once, and was positive that it did not itch.  What a champ.

 

After this strep diagnosis, I decided to buy some of my own Rapid Strep Kits so I could test the kids at home, so I would know whether we needed to go to the doctor or not.  Just twenty days after being off this latest round of antibiotics, Porter told me his throat hurt.  He didn't have a fever and I thought he might be getting a cold.  He complained about his throat the following day, with no other symptoms, so I decided to give my kit a test run.

 

 

He tested positive for Strep.  I called the doctor's office hoping they would be willing to call in a prescription without seeing us, but that was a no go.  So, we went in and they did a Rapid Strep test that also came back positive.  The gal in the lab was excited to hear that my home test worked and wanted to know where I got it and how much it was so she could buy some for herself (in case you are wondering, I bought a pack of 25 tests for $40 on Amazon).  As we were leaving the ladies at the check-in desk said, "See you next week!"  They know us all too well.  Thankfully, there was no reason to return a week later. :)  And next time my handy dandy test reads positive, I will be using Teladoc instead.  I have been using Teladoc lately for small things (like Ryland's monthly ear infections) as it is so much cheaper and I don't have to leave my house, since the doctor calls me at home.