Guest guest Posted September 15, 2004 Report Share Posted September 15, 2004 Hi Marsha: Sure, I will fill you in and try not to write a book, but my thoughts ramble sometimes:) Caitlin woke up one morning with a high fever (105) and a sore throat. My girls and I have been prone to strep and I figured, ah Caitlin has strep. Brought her in that day and the test came back negative. Still high fever two days later and now the beginnings of a rash. Back to the peds for another strep test, again negative. Still high fever, sore throat and now this rash is totally out of control. Head to toe and itchy like crazy. By the 4th day she could no longer walk without excruciating pain. All in all we went to the peds office 6 out of the 9 days before Thanksgiving. During one of the visits (probably) the 4th visit we did labs. One thing that showed on the labs was something (maybe protein) in the urine. So the day before Thanksgiving she went in to the peds and received three shots of Rocephin (sp?). Thanksgiving she ate and felt a smidgen better. Still had all symptoms though. The day after Thanksgiving we were to go in for a check and the other doctor (hadn't seen Caitlin) before (we were new to the practice too) and was perplexed and very concerned. She said nothing they do pinpoints anything and they aren't making her better. Clearly she is very, very sick. So she was admitted into the hospital. They drew labs and the waiting started. They treated her with Tylenol, steroids and Ibuprofin. No antibiotics until they knew what they were dealing with as they were afraid it would mask something. Around day 3 the pediatrician came in and said she thinks she knows what it is, Rheumatic Fever. Some tests came back positive for strep. I have learned a lot about strep since and how it shows up in your body, etc. With RF you have to worry about the heart. EKG and echo were scheduled (not fast enough for me, right) and I waited again. That evening the cardiologist came in and said, thank God, her heart was fine. He did not feel she met the 'typical' RF patient. Later rheumy would say the same thing. I am not sure what is showing in your son's tests for strep. The two tests that showed Caitlin had a previous strep infection were the ASO titer test and the DNAse test. Both are used. She had a positive ASO and a high number on the DNAse. After seeing the rheumy we decided to keep her on the Cefzil. They treated her on it to get rid of any possible strep germ hanging around. Because we were not sure if it was a strep infection that triggered the Still's or an injury the day before she showed symptoms (fell out of a tree while climbing with a friend). With the strep season here and with her in school I wanted to keep her on it until spring. It's a safety gate for us. Although we are not sure now if she has developed an allergy to it or not. One thing I will say that a certain percentage (can't remember off the top of my head, somewhere around 1/3) or Still's patients have a positive ASO. You will also have a positive ASO after any strep infection if they draw blood. I hope I answered some of your questions. If not, please ask some more:) Take care. Patty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 2004 Report Share Posted September 15, 2004 Marsha, I'll jump in here also. I was at the AJAO Conference in July and saw a presentation mentioning strep and some other things. Basically, what the scientists are theorizing on at this point is that JRA is partially genetic but activated environmentally, typically through some sort of bacterial infection or viral infection. The two viruses that were mentioned were strep and EBV (epstein barr virus -- in the same family as mononucleosis [mono]). There are many on this list who feel or question if their child's bout or bouts with strep triggered the JRA. It's still a theory. Some of the kids here go into a flare when they have strep. Hope that fills you in a little. Stacia and Hunter 8 systemic, iritis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 16, 2004 Report Share Posted September 16, 2004 Abbie was initially diagnosed with a " post strep " infection, due to high strep levels as well. Needless to say I laughed. Christy (Abbie, 15 systemic) Gramma/Deb > > > Now mention strep to me and I will go running in the > > opposite direction, literally, ask anyone here. > > > > > Patty, > > Would you mind filling me in on this? I'm relatively new here so I'm not > familiar with Caitlin's background. I'm curious because what kept coming up > in 's blood tests prior to us seeing a rheumy was elevated levels of > strep. > > Thanks! > Marsha and (8) > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 16, 2004 Report Share Posted September 16, 2004 -Nick too.... when he 1st got sick, the 2 peds tried to tell me he had scarlet fever due to an untreated strep infection. They did a ASO titer expecting it to come back very high, only to find out it was negative... Then they thought it was kawasakis disease for which he was hospitalized, only to be told, no its not that, and they didnt know what it was, more than likely " just a virus " and sent us on our way.. Thank goodness our pred decided to send us to a ped rhuemy... and the rest is history as they say. Only 4 months from onset to DX. I will say though that Nicks bad flare last winter was triggered by a bout of, yeap, you guessed it, strep. Im not quite as " strep- phobic " as our dear Patty( said with love )) ) but i am concerned about the approching winter and strep outbreaks. I still think theres a big corralation between strep and JRA... hugs Helen and (7,systemic) -- In , " Christy Boos " <gazelle@p...> wrote: > Abbie was initially diagnosed with a " post strep " infection, due to high > strep levels as well. Needless to say I laughed. > Christy (Abbie, 15 systemic) > Gramma/Deb > > > > > Now mention strep to me and I will go running in the > > > opposite direction, literally, ask anyone here. > > > > > > > > > Patty, > > > > Would you mind filling me in on this? I'm relatively new here so I'm not > > familiar with Caitlin's background. I'm curious because what kept coming > up > > in 's blood tests prior to us seeing a rheumy was elevated levels > of > > strep. > > > > Thanks! > > Marsha and (8) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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