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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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[/quote]

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.[b] None of this "it'll clear up on its own" stuff, we always do antibiotics. [/b][/quote]

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.[/quote]

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.[/quote]

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