Why do some people consistently get strep while others never get it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never had it in 42 years. Husband has had it probably 30 times in 45 years. Some people definitely susceptible. Have you ever heard of anyone getting just once? I haven't

You may want to see if he's a carrier. He might want to have his tonsils out. 30 courses of antibiotics can't be good for anyone, especially if it's preventable by a minor surgery.

I was 34 when I had my tonsils out. I'm glad I did it but it was no minor surgery. It is extremely painful as an adult and much riskier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never had it in 42 years. Husband has had it probably 30 times in 45 years. Some people definitely susceptible. Have you ever heard of anyone getting just once? I haven't

My husband says he only had it once.

[Anonymous]

To my knowledge I've never had it but I've lots of ear infections and earaches throughout life. I had my tonsils removed and tubes put in my ears as a toddler. I've had friends who get strep a lot and I think they all have their tonsils.

[Anonymous]

I got my tonsils out at 8 after almost missing half the school year from being constantly sick with strep. Would get it again the week after the 10 day course of antibiotics ran out. And I agree with the other poster who calls it the worst sore throat ever. Hurts to swallow so much you want to cry, but you know that'll end up hurting too.

I've only had strep once since I got my tonsils out, while I was in college after I killed my immune system on a partying binge one summer weekend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never had it in 42 years. Husband has had it probably 30 times in 45 years. Some people definitely susceptible. Have you ever heard of anyone getting just once? I haven't

I've only had it once, a few years ago. I didn't even know what it was at first--I had caught a cold at the same time, so I attributed all the symptoms to that and didn't realize what was going on until about 5 days into it when I started to wonder why my throat was so horribly painful with just a cold and what those white spots on my tonsils were. Dr. Google informed me that it was probably strep, which finally pushed me into going to a real doctor for a throat swab. The rapid test came back positive, I went on antibiotics, the strep went away, and I haven't had a problem since, knock on wood.

My grandmother got strep in the days before antibiotics and ended up with rheumatic fever. She had heart problems her entire life as a result, which eventually caused a bunch of small strokes and thus vascular dementia that led to a gradual cognitive decline the last quarter of her life. According to my mother, she was already starting to slip when I was a toddler and I never really knew her as she had been. Needless to say, strep throat is taken extremely seriously in our family. None of this "it'll clear up on its own" stuff, we always do antibiotics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My understanding of strep is that everyone gets over it without antibiotics. Usually in about a week or 10 days. But we take antibiotics for it because very very few people may go on to develop very serious complications without the antibiotics - in other words, antibiotics aren't for the strep but for anything bad that may come after it (i.e. rheumatic fever).

So it's totally plausible that lots of people have it lots of the time and it goes away and that's that. Adults have fever symptoms, so we probably don't always even notice.

I took antibiotics for it because I tried to last ten days in order to develop an immunity and it felt like I had 200 knives scratching against my throat at the same time. Seriously, i have never felt pain like that in my life. So, so, so bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never had it in 42 years. Husband has had it probably 30 times in 45 years. Some people definitely susceptible. Have you ever heard of anyone getting just once? I haven't

I've only had it once, a few years ago. I didn't even know what it was at first--I had caught a cold at the same time, so I attributed all the symptoms to that and didn't realize what was going on until about 5 days into it when I started to wonder why my throat was so horribly painful with just a cold and what those white spots on my tonsils were. Dr. Google informed me that it was probably strep, which finally pushed me into going to a real doctor for a throat swab. The rapid test came back positive, I went on antibiotics, the strep went away, and I haven't had a problem since, knock on wood.

My grandmother got strep in the days before antibiotics and ended up with rheumatic fever. She had heart problems her entire life as a result, which eventually caused a bunch of small strokes and thus vascular dementia that led to a gradual cognitive decline the last quarter of her life. According to my mother, she was already starting to slip when I was a toddler and I never really knew her as she had been. Needless to say, strep throat is taken extremely seriously in our family. None of this "it'll clear up on its own" stuff, we always do antibiotics.

The tendency to get rheumatic fever is hereditary. Good thing your family takes it seriously. Between PANDAS and strong family history of rheumatic fever, strep is a medical emergency in our house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never had it in 42 years. Husband has had it probably 30 times in 45 years. Some people definitely susceptible. Have you ever heard of anyone getting just once? I haven't

I've only had it once, a few years ago. I didn't even know what it was at first--I had caught a cold at the same time, so I attributed all the symptoms to that and didn't realize what was going on until about 5 days into it when I started to wonder why my throat was so horribly painful with just a cold and what those white spots on my tonsils were. Dr. Google informed me that it was probably strep, which finally pushed me into going to a real doctor for a throat swab. The rapid test came back positive, I went on antibiotics, the strep went away, and I haven't had a problem since, knock on wood.

My grandmother got strep in the days before antibiotics and ended up with rheumatic fever. She had heart problems her entire life as a result, which eventually caused a bunch of small strokes and thus vascular dementia that led to a gradual cognitive decline the last quarter of her life. According to my mother, she was already starting to slip when I was a toddler and I never really knew her as she had been. Needless to say, strep throat is taken extremely seriously in our family. None of this "it'll clear up on its own" stuff, we always do antibiotics.

It's funny, my roomate/best friend in college and afterwards was the daughter of a heart surgeon.

For all the talk of the dangers of antibiotics, I know at the FIRST sign of anything, even a tiny, tiny little cold, her father would be writing her a script for an antibiotic and telling her to go in.

The fact is, antibiotics are the healthiest option that have significantly prolonged the average human life. And strep is certainly not something to mess around with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never had it in 42 years. Husband has had it probably 30 times in 45 years. Some people definitely susceptible. Have you ever heard of anyone getting just once? I haven't

I've only had it once, a few years ago. I didn't even know what it was at first--I had caught a cold at the same time, so I attributed all the symptoms to that and didn't realize what was going on until about 5 days into it when I started to wonder why my throat was so horribly painful with just a cold and what those white spots on my tonsils were. Dr. Google informed me that it was probably strep, which finally pushed me into going to a real doctor for a throat swab. The rapid test came back positive, I went on antibiotics, the strep went away, and I haven't had a problem since, knock on wood.

My grandmother got strep in the days before antibiotics and ended up with rheumatic fever. She had heart problems her entire life as a result, which eventually caused a bunch of small strokes and thus vascular dementia that led to a gradual cognitive decline the last quarter of her life. According to my mother, she was already starting to slip when I was a toddler and I never really knew her as she had been. Needless to say, strep throat is taken extremely seriously in our family. None of this "it'll clear up on its own" stuff, we always do antibiotics.

It's funny, my roomate/best friend in college and afterwards was the daughter of a heart surgeon.

For all the talk of the dangers of antibiotics, I know at the FIRST sign of anything, even a tiny, tiny little cold, her father would be writing her a script for an antibiotic and telling her to go in.

The fact is, antibiotics are the healthiest option that have significantly prolonged the average human life. And strep is certainly not something to mess around with.

Agreed - for most sniffles and colds we let if ride its course. Doctors will tell you the common cold will last 7-10 days without antibiotics and 7 days with - so in our minds no need to up the amount of antibiotic use for something your body will fight off. Strep is totally different. The moment we suspect its strep - we get a rapid test and start antibiotics. Its just not worth the pain, and potential long term issues to let to fight it off without. To us this is why we have antibiotics - use them wisely and within reason - they are there to help.

[Anonymous]

My younger sister and I had strep constantly, 4-6 times a year -- I finally had my tonsils out in college and not a single case of strep since even though my three kids have each had it at least twice.

With the benefit of hindsight, I'd much rather have had my tonsils out sooner rather than be on God knows how many courses of antibiotics. Antibiotics are life-saving but also come with a price both for individuals and for society. And having my tonsils out in college was no joke (especially as I had them done under local). The recovery was a bitch. But I would do it all over again especially if the alternative was multiple courses of antibiotics every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never had it in 42 years. Husband has had it probably 30 times in 45 years. Some people definitely susceptible. Have you ever heard of anyone getting just once? I haven't

I've only had it once, a few years ago. I didn't even know what it was at first--I had caught a cold at the same time, so I attributed all the symptoms to that and didn't realize what was going on until about 5 days into it when I started to wonder why my throat was so horribly painful with just a cold and what those white spots on my tonsils were. Dr. Google informed me that it was probably strep, which finally pushed me into going to a real doctor for a throat swab. The rapid test came back positive, I went on antibiotics, the strep went away, and I haven't had a problem since, knock on wood.

My grandmother got strep in the days before antibiotics and ended up with rheumatic fever. She had heart problems her entire life as a result, which eventually caused a bunch of small strokes and thus vascular dementia that led to a gradual cognitive decline the last quarter of her life. According to my mother, she was already starting to slip when I was a toddler and I never really knew her as she had been. Needless to say, strep throat is taken extremely seriously in our family. None of this "it'll clear up on its own" stuff, we always do antibiotics.

The tendency to get rheumatic fever is hereditary. Good thing your family takes it seriously. Between PANDAS and strong family history of rheumatic fever, strep is a medical emergency in our house.

We take it seriously in our family too. One time when I was younger, it went into scarlet fever. I am one of the posters who said we come from a family with large tonsils and I get it about 3-4 times a winter. I think, in the '1970s and 80s, pediatricians were not taking tonsils out as much as they used to (when my mom had hers removed in the 50s), so none of my sisters or I got our tonsils out. Now that we are older (in our 30s and 40s), I am told it is much much more painful and a longer recovery, so I just deal with the strep as it comes. I can feel it (I've had it often enough I know exactly how my body feels) so I go in and get a prescription for antibiotics. Even if I am wrong, I tell the doc, I don't care. Just give me the culture and if I am wrong, so what, at least we have ruled it out. And then they send it out and sometimes it will develop into strep after 24 hours. I'd just rather get on the antibiotics and feel better after being on them 24 hours (and of course I finish up the prescription!) than suffer though long prolonged agony. 1) Who has time for that? I work and have 2 kids and have limited vacation/sick time [it's all in one bucket at my company] and b) like I said, one time when I was younger, it progressed to scarlet fever. Ever since then, my mother put the fear of God in us to get it checked out at once.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never had it in 42 years. Husband has had it probably 30 times in 45 years. Some people definitely susceptible. Have you ever heard of anyone getting just once? I haven't

I've only had it once, a few years ago. I didn't even know what it was at first--I had caught a cold at the same time, so I attributed all the symptoms to that and didn't realize what was going on until about 5 days into it when I started to wonder why my throat was so horribly painful with just a cold and what those white spots on my tonsils were. Dr. Google informed me that it was probably strep, which finally pushed me into going to a real doctor for a throat swab. The rapid test came back positive, I went on antibiotics, the strep went away, and I haven't had a problem since, knock on wood.

My grandmother got strep in the days before antibiotics and ended up with rheumatic fever. She had heart problems her entire life as a result, which eventually caused a bunch of small strokes and thus vascular dementia that led to a gradual cognitive decline the last quarter of her life. According to my mother, she was already starting to slip when I was a toddler and I never really knew her as she had been. Needless to say, strep throat is taken extremely seriously in our family. None of this "it'll clear up on its own" stuff, we always do antibiotics.

The tendency to get rheumatic fever is hereditary. Good thing your family takes it seriously. Between PANDAS and strong family history of rheumatic fever, strep is a medical emergency in our house.

We take it seriously in our family too. One time when I was younger, it went into scarlet fever. I am one of the posters who said we come from a family with large tonsils and I get it about 3-4 times a winter. I think, in the '1970s and 80s, pediatricians were not taking tonsils out as much as they used to (when my mom had hers removed in the 50s), so none of my sisters or I got our tonsils out. Now that we are older (in our 30s and 40s), I am told it is much much more painful and a longer recovery, so I just deal with the strep as it comes. I can feel it (I've had it often enough I know exactly how my body feels) so I go in and get a prescription for antibiotics. Even if I am wrong, I tell the doc, I don't care. Just give me the culture and if I am wrong, so what, at least we have ruled it out. And then they send it out and sometimes it will develop into strep after 24 hours. I'd just rather get on the antibiotics and feel better after being on them 24 hours (and of course I finish up the prescription!) than suffer though long prolonged agony. 1) Who has time for that? I work and have 2 kids and have limited vacation/sick time [it's all in one bucket at my company] and b) like I said, one time when I was younger, it progressed to scarlet fever. Ever since then, my mother put the fear of God in us to get it checked out at once.

I just re-read my post and thought it sounded like I was saying, "Even if I am wrong, give me antibiotics." No, that is not what I do. Sorry if unclear. I say, "Please give me the culture. If I am wrong, I am wrong and I will go on my merry way and it's just a virus and it will run its course and I will be patient while it does so. But if I am right, I'd rather start getting better sooner rather than later, on the prescription antibiotics."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never had it in 42 years. Husband has had it probably 30 times in 45 years. Some people definitely susceptible. Have you ever heard of anyone getting just once? I haven't

I've only had it once, a few years ago. I didn't even know what it was at first--I had caught a cold at the same time, so I attributed all the symptoms to that and didn't realize what was going on until about 5 days into it when I started to wonder why my throat was so horribly painful with just a cold and what those white spots on my tonsils were. Dr. Google informed me that it was probably strep, which finally pushed me into going to a real doctor for a throat swab. The rapid test came back positive, I went on antibiotics, the strep went away, and I haven't had a problem since, knock on wood.

My grandmother got strep in the days before antibiotics and ended up with rheumatic fever. She had heart problems her entire life as a result, which eventually caused a bunch of small strokes and thus vascular dementia that led to a gradual cognitive decline the last quarter of her life. According to my mother, she was already starting to slip when I was a toddler and I never really knew her as she had been. Needless to say, strep throat is taken extremely seriously in our family. None of this "it'll clear up on its own" stuff, we always do antibiotics.

The tendency to get rheumatic fever is hereditary. Good thing your family takes it seriously. Between PANDAS and strong family history of rheumatic fever, strep is a medical emergency in our house.

We take it seriously in our family too. One time when I was younger, it went into scarlet fever. I am one of the posters who said we come from a family with large tonsils and I get it about 3-4 times a winter. I think, in the '1970s and 80s, pediatricians were not taking tonsils out as much as they used to (when my mom had hers removed in the 50s), so none of my sisters or I got our tonsils out. Now that we are older (in our 30s and 40s), I am told it is much much more painful and a longer recovery, so I just deal with the strep as it comes. I can feel it (I've had it often enough I know exactly how my body feels) so I go in and get a prescription for antibiotics. Even if I am wrong, I tell the doc, I don't care. Just give me the culture and if I am wrong, so what, at least we have ruled it out. And then they send it out and sometimes it will develop into strep after 24 hours. I'd just rather get on the antibiotics and feel better after being on them 24 hours (and of course I finish up the prescription!) than suffer though long prolonged agony. 1) Who has time for that? I work and have 2 kids and have limited vacation/sick time [it's all in one bucket at my company] and b) like I said, one time when I was younger, it progressed to scarlet fever. Ever since then, my mother put the fear of God in us to get it checked out at once.

I just re-read my post and thought it sounded like I was saying, "Even if I am wrong, give me antibiotics." No, that is not what I do. Sorry if unclear. I say, "Please give me the culture. If I am wrong, I am wrong and I will go on my merry way and it's just a virus and it will run its course and I will be patient while it does so. But if I am right, I'd rather start getting better sooner rather than later, on the prescription antibiotics."

I was one of the posters who got my tonsils out at 34. I completely understand what you are saying; however, I am so glad that I no longer have to deal with the frequent cultures/antibiotic treatment. Over the years, I would have to go on stronger and stronger antibiotics to wipe out my strep, and I didn't want my body to be forced to the strongest antibiotic every time I needed. Yes, the two + week recovery period sucked - I flew my parents in to help out with the kids and my recovery. One thing that helped me at work was that I was able to go on STD instead of having to use up all my leave (another one who also only has one PTO bank). My ENT wrote me out for two weeks to start, and then added another week when my recovery was slower than expected. I had asked my HR in advance how it would all work, and this was so much better than having to continue to burn PTO or force myself back to work before I was ready.

In the six years since my surgery, I have not missed work due to my illness. (I have missed plenty for my kids.) So I found it a great long term investment.

[Anonymous]

Our pediatrician told us to replace toothbrushes after day 1 or day 2 (i don't remember) of a course of antibiotics for strep.

[Anonymous]

I've often wondered why my kids don't seem to get it. I can't count how many cultures they've had, how many times the doctor has said, "Looks like strep; it's definitely going around," only to have the culture come back negative. Meanwhile a friend's kids get it and show no symptoms.

My kids' dad got it all the time as a kid. Finally had his tonsils out at age 40.