What do you do if a kiddo comes in with a 2 or 3 day history of a sore throat and fever and he has been pretreated at home with some left over meds from a sib, or the parent is a vet and used some doggie amoxicillan (not the same one that de-brained the rabinous horse) and your strep is negative and it probably was viral but, who knows... do you give in and tell them to treat as if strep- for 10 days or what? This happens more often than I'd like. Kim Burlingham, MD -----Original Message----- From: <> To: <> Date: Wednesday, July 22, 1998 11:10 PM Subject: Re: Grp A Strep followup >In a message dated 7/22/1998 12:26:19 AM Eastern Daylight Time, > writes: > >> I should know this but I don't---how long does the quick strep stay positive >> after the infection is treated? For example if a child is self-started on >> some leftover antibiotics at home and comes in two days later with a hx of >a >> sore throat - willll the rapid strep test be positive? Thanks Kim >> Burlingham, MD > >I've wondered the same thing myself. I do see kids who have sore throats and >have already been started on antibiotics--leftover, or sibling's meds, or >maybe even grandma's meds. I never know whether the quick strep test will be >accurate. I've had a few show up positive after one or two doses, but none >after that, so in my limited experience, three doses or more are always >negative, but it's probably only a handful of kids, and most of them probably >didn't have strep in the first place. > >Moshe Adler, MD > > >