stillthinkin,
Please do not delay in seeking prompt medical treatment if you suspect
you or a family member has "strep throat". While some sore throats may
be caused by a virus, and will subside on its own, "strep throat" can
be serious, deadly serious, if left untreated.
Now, on to your question,
1)You do not need to grow streptocci bacteria to determine if you
HAVE the organism growing in your throat. 2) You SHOULD NOT even TRY
to grow it, as this could be very menacing to your health, as well as
others. The strep organism causes more than "Strep throat" and can
damage heart and kidney tissue, as well as other health problems.
Please don't even consider trying to grow this organism. In order to
grow it, you would need specialized media, and controlled
temperatures,which I will not go into here. In order to see the
organism, you would need special stains, glass slides, and a heat
souce, such as a bunsen burner. Looking at the UNstained bacteria
under a microscope, even by a highly trained person, can not determine
if the bacteria you are looking at is actually strep.Even if you COULD
determine you had strep throat, you will need a prescription for the
correct antibiotic. All antibiotics are not effective against any
organism.
There are many rapid "strep throat" tests, available at your health
care provider's office. The results can be determined in a matter of
minutes. In the case of a negative result, a routine throat culture
would be performed as a confirmatory test.
Only qualified medical personnel can determine accurately if a person
has "strep throat". There is a distinctive odor to a "strep throat"
infection, one which can't be described here. I, as a heath care
worker, am familiar with the odor, in a throat, or on a culture plate.
Whenever a family member complains of a sore throat, I actually do
sniff their throat. However, this in no way is an accurate test! I
promptly take that person to our doctor who will make the actual
diagnosis, and consequently treat the patient!
I am afraid you will have to visit a health care facility to diagnose
and treat a sore throat.
Good health to you-
crabcakes |
Request for Answer Clarification by
stillthinkin-ga
on
12 Aug 2002 05:22 PDT
Thanks for your warnings, but I've been to the doctor on several
occassions and these quick strep tests are not available in Canada. It
has taken up to a week to get lab results back in the past. Meanwhile,
a family member suffers with a sore throat. My daughter has even
recovered without antibiotics when strep was confirmed. So I also
question the NEED for an antibiotic.
Now that you mention these quick strep tests - is this all that is
required? If so, where can I purchase them?
The doctor has also suggested that my daughter may be a carrier, yet
has not performed the testing when there are no symptoms present to
determine if this is in fact the case. Neither was I informed of the
consequences if she is a carrier. From what I've read on the Internet,
this is quite serious, but I've not seen any literature on ridding
oneself of the bacteria - surely this is possible??
Thanks again for your speedy response.
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Clarification of Answer by
crabcakes-ga
on
12 Aug 2002 10:43 PDT
stillthinkin,
I can appreciate your frustration with a doctor who is not treating
you or your family in the manner you think she/he should. Perhaps you
should consider changing health care providers.
People CAN be carriers of strep, and remain asymptomatic. At times
family pets are the carriers as well. If your doctor truly thought
someone or a pet was carrying this organism, cultures can be taken to
determine who is the unwitting culprit. Perhaps your doctor does not
see the need to do so at this time. When I was doing my internship,
there was a rash (No pun intended) of surgical patients that came
down with strep infections. The nurse epidemiologist tried to track
down the source, but all environmental cultures proved negative. The
next step was to culture all the staff who had had contact with the
strep-infected patients. The organism was traced to the rectal culture
of the asymptomatic anesthesiologist!(yuk) Case solved.
As far as the rapid trep test availability, I am confident they are in
use in Canada, as they are not new. I have been using them for over 14
years in various parts of the US. Below are two references to the
rapid strep tests in use in Canada.
http://www.cfpc.ca/programs/education/Patient_Education/English/article2323.htm
http://www.cscc.ca/doctor.shtml
When the swab for the rapid test is taken, the patient should not
have eaten or drunk anything for about 20 minutes prior, for best
results.(Many doctor's offices do not abide by this best practice) The
person taking the swab needs to be knowledgeable about the location of
the swab area. When a patient is uncooperative (And I am not
suggesting that in this case, merely mentioning it as a possible
factor) or has a strong gag reflex, a sample can be taken from an area
that will not yield the best results.The kind of swab is also a factor
in obtaining best results, (based on the test manufacturer's
recommendations). Cotton swabs are a no-no. Numerous kinds of swabs
abound in a medical setting, and often an innapropriate swab is
submitted by unknowing personnel. I have even had doctors tell us to
run the test anyway, when told the swab used will give questionable
results.....
There is no home test that I know of. No doctor would treat a
patient for strep based on a home test anyway. Suppose you HAD
performed a test at home....1) You could get a false negative and do
nothing. Meanwhile, your condition could worsen 2) You could get a
positive result, in which case the doctor would turn around and re-run
a test before treating you. This is good medicine.
When a rapid strep test is taken, two swabs are the norm. One is
used to run the rapid test,the other to perform a routine culture in
case the rapid test is negative. The culture is the gold standard
test. The rapid test involves adding several reagents, critically
timed, and incubating. The antigen is then extracted and furthur
testing is run on the extracted fluid. This would be impossible to
perform in quality-controlled manner at home.
I sympathize, but your best course of action is to find a provider who
offers the rapid test, and understands your concerns, especially if
your daughter is a carrier.
PS: The turn-around time for a rapid strep test, depending on the work
load would be about 35-45 minutes. To complete a routine culture takes
approximately 48 hours, give or take several hours. Generally labs
call the doctor as soon as a culture is positive, before the 48 hours,
thus shortening the time to get a result
Hoping this clarification helped you!
crabcakes
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