Conference moira::parenting

    	In little ones (as well as big ones) signs of a strep (or just
    sore) throat are:

    	Whining
    	Crying
    	Fever
    	Flushed look
    	Glassy eyes
    	Refusal to eat

    				Wendy

    
    	Check the back of his mouth/throat...  I know when I got strep
    	while preggo with Michael, I got this awful white "gook" all over
    	the inside of my mouth, on my tounge, and roof of my mouth. Little
    	white bumps too. The doctor took one look at me, and said he didn't
    	even need to do a culture, he could tell just from that (he did
    	anyways tho).
    
    	Good Luck,  
    	Chris
    
    

    Also, extremely bad breath and vomiting.  My son, as well as myself,
    use to get strep all the time.  When my son was little (infant) he use
    to get a really upset stomach to the point of vomiting.
    
    

    Strep is contagious until antibiotics have been treating it for 24
    hours (that would make them "safe" before Friday).
    

    How long BEFORE it's diagnosed is strep contagious?  I have heard
    that colds, for example, are contagious for as long as 10-14 days
    before you start coughing/sneezing/blowing your nose.  
    
    We went out on New Year's Eve (first time in 8 years) -- any chacne
    that our teenage babysitter has been exposed to strep because she
    baby-sat our kids??
    
    I'm trying not to be paranoid, but I know what harm strep can do!

Evan and I are currently recovering from Strep.  Our doctor told us that
one of the symptoms of strep in young children is when they complain that 
their tummy doesn't feel well.  This time (age 4 3/4) is the first time 
Evan has told us that his throat hurt.

    Carol

    Ah, strep...  The major illness is my family...
    
    My pedi told me children under 2 don't get strep.  My youngest has
    never gotten it, even though his brothers have had it.  I've also
    found that just because one kid gets it does not necessarily mean
    *everyone* in the family gets it.  Usually it just strikes one of the 
    boys.
    
    Symptoms:
    
    The child usually gets a fever, and *looks ill*.  The classic symptom
    is what I call "rock swallowing".   When the child swallows (anything-
    even liquid), it looks like he's tring to swallow rocks (that's how
    painful it is).  With my boys, it's the dead giveaway.  Also, don't
    automatically count on white spots being strep.  White spots can also
    be caused by viruses.
    
    Strep can make young children vomit, but so can colds and ear 
    infections.
    
    A tip:  If your voice is affected, 90% of the time it's a virus-- not
            bacteria. 
    

    Oops-- that's "in" my family, not "is" my family.  ;-)

    By the way, if there are recurrent episodes of Strep in 
    a family, you might have the family dog checked. Research
    has shown that they can be silent carriers of the Strep
    germ. 
    
    
    Jodi-

    Well, I don't know if it's indicative of the winter to come,
    but my niece was diagnosed on Christmas Eve with bacterial
    strep.  Actually, the dr referred to her case as scarlet fever
    because it was the rash_with_a_high_temp (105F) kind of strep.
    No sore throat at all. My brother-in-law got a positive culture
    the day after Christmas, and my pregnant_with_twins sister who 
    has been caring for both of them had a culture done yesterday.
    
    I played with Emily all day while the others stayed away because
    I didn't want the poor kid to feel like a pariah.  My throat is
    sore but I'm wondering if it's psycho-psomatic (sp?) ....
    
    Sue

    Okay, I say uncle to strep.  Everyone in our house has had strep over
    the past few weeks and we can't seem to get rid of it.  Either we are
    getting reinfected from children at daycare or the antibiotic isn't
    strong enough to kill the bacteria--and most likely a combination of
    these two.  
    
    Right now my daughter is on her third round, I'm on my second, and my
    husband and son are on their first.
    
    
    What should we do to avoid catching this again?  We don't have any
    animals to catch it from.  We are throwing away our toothbrushes to
    avoid reinfecting ourselves.  
    
    Any other suggestions?
    
    Thanks!
    
    judy

Do you have a dog?  Sometimes the dog can be the carrier...

Mary

    No, we have no animals at all.  We also haven't visited anyone with any
    either.
    
    I'm looking for weird hints like get rid of all toothbrushes.  I
    usually wash the dishes in the dishwasher but save on energy costs by
    not using the drying feature.  Is the heat from the washing cycle
    sufficient to kill the germs or should I use the drying feature during
    this time?
    
    judy

    Judy,
    
    Also look for any toys the kids may put in their mouths like whistles,
    song flutes, etc.  For these I would think hitting them with a bleach
    solution would do pretty good.  
    
    Irene

    When my children were small, we had a very similar problem.  My doctor
    felt that one child was the carrier.  Her tonsils were very bad,  so 
    he scheduled a tonsillectomy for her.  After they were removed, she
    (and only she) got one bad attack of strep that went to her vocal cords
    because her tonsils weren't there to stop/catch the infection.  She had
    to be hospitalized for croup at the time.  After she recuperated from
    this, the strep infections stopped.  
    
    So, someone in your family may be a carrier.  I don't know how that is
    determined, other than what happened to us.
    
    Regards,
    Lorraine

    
    Thanks for this information.  I'll mention it at our next re-check.
    
    If we have a carrier, I suspect it is my daughter who has had strep
    *many* times.
    
    judy

    
    	Just curious...
    
    	Does anyone know of any issues/concerns surrounding
    	contracting Strep (A) while pregnant ?
    
    	My daughter was just diagnosed with strep throat yesterday,
    	and my son was diagnosed with a bacterial infection caused
    	by his chicken pox on Sunday.
    
    	Karen
    

    As usual, check with your Dr to be sure.  Here's my experience - 
    
    My husband gave me a lovely case of strep throat when I was about 4
    months pregnant with Michelle.  Since I'm allergic to penicillian (the
    drug of choice), they gave me Erthimician (sp?).  You know, the stuff
    that's major side affect is nausea.  I got this just as that all day
    sickness was subsiding, only to have it come back thanks to the drugs.
    
    But other than the food turn off- all was well.  I think if you
    contract it closer to your due date, they watch the infant more.  You
    should let your OB know what's going on.
    
    As far as the chickenpox, I believe if you've had them, you should be
    ok.
    
    	YMMV,
    		Marianne

    
    	Thanks.
    
    	So far, so good.  Emily was contagious until Wednedsay afternoon,
    	so if I make it safely to tomorrow, I should be fine.
    
    	I was not concerned with Andrew's chicken pox until I found
    	out he'd developed a bacterial infection, and most likely, strep.
    	(The fact that Emily was quarantined with us all weekend, then
    	got strep lends credence to the idea that he also had it.) 
    	
    	Funny thing, though.  The ER nurse wouldn't come into the room
    	to triage Andrew because she was pregnant, even though she'd
    	had chicken pox.  I told her I was pregnant, too, and she said,
    	yeah, but you have no choice but to be exposed.