Anonymous wrote:We had a similar issue at our house. Strep can live anywhere- on your skin, in your mouth, on your tonsils, in your nostrils. It only takes one person (or pet!) in the family to be a carrier to keep reinfecting anyone susceptible. Yes, wash all sheets, throw out all toothbrushes, etc. But to totally get rid of it, you need to get to an infectious disease specialist AND have your DD's tonsils and adenoids removed before your DD starts developing serious health issues. Strep is not something you mess around with- it can cause very severe health issues. We know a child who kept getting strep that wasn't fully treatable by antibiotics and she developed rheumatic fever and now has heart issues. There are two kids in our class with PANDAS. Your pediatrician doesn't seem to know what he/she is doing or he/she would have addressed this more proactively.
For infectious disease- Dr. Charlotte Barby-Morel at Georgetown is the go-to person for strep. For tonsils/adenoids- as PPs have said, Dr. Earl Harley is the best ENT to deal with repeat strep.
This is somewhat an extremist approach. My ds had strep repeatedly one winter. We dealt with it with antibiotics repeatedly until the swabs were negative, tossed everything that could be a source of contamination, and he hasn't had strep again in two years. I'm glad we didn't jump to surgery without taking all the common sense measures we could find first.