to think doctors diagnose viral infection too much

[AuntiePickleBottom]

every time i take dc to the doctors it always a viral, took dd there on thursday and viral was diagnose.

now they have said hand foot and mouth, which is contigious, so been taking her out shopping ect and now i could of infected alot more children. ( if i would of known them i would of kept her in)

YANBU

It seems like a stock answer now without even paying attention while checking.

YABU.
Hand foot and mouth is viral.

I think YA(mostly)NBU, I do think they tend diagnose viral infection when there not sure what it is but have ruled out most of the obvious serious things. I know sometimes things are viral infections but if they are a specific one like foot and mouth which needs isolation or treatment then they should be specific and not fob you off.

I can understand how this came about in a reaction to people demanding antibiotics for things that would clear up on their own though.

Common things are common. Viruses are common. What do you want them to do, swab everyone that comes in?

YABU. H, F& M is a virus, what do you want them to diagnose it as? Most kids illnesses are viruses, many of them indistinct.

My baby was recently diagnosed with "something viral, it will clear up" by first NHS direct and a very condescending GP.

Several days later he was in a&e in heart failure due to the cardiomyopathy it turned out he has.

So yes. A lot of the time it's a fucking lazy diagnosis.

Sorry, meant to say, NO. YANBU.

well if it IS viral what are they supposed to say

Well yes, if it IS viral.

But I've heard a few times of children being incorrectly diagnosed with something viral - not in as extreme circumstances as mine..but when you have a GP sending a dying child home with nothing and no further follow up because it's easier to send them home with a "viral" diagnosis where he needed to do nothing - then yes, it is over diagnosed.....especially as we (with no medical background) had explained that his funny breathing and the fact that he had NO fever was counter-indicative of this.

More commonly a virus than anything else so YABU
And not 'a fucking lazy diagnosis' which is a massively sweeping generalisation.

And HFM is caused by coxsackie virus, er yes, a virus

Okay, good point - it can be a fucking lazy diagnosis, rather than it is. Obviously a lot of the time it's an accurate one, but it can also often be the easiest thing to do.

Yabu

now they have said hand foot and mouth, which is contigious, so been taking her out shopping ect and now i could of infected alot more children. ( if i would of known them i would of kept her in)

This makes NO sense. How do you think people get viruses? They catch them from other people! Were you under the impression that viruses weren't contagious?

Yanbu if the gp says "it's viral" with no other advice or suggestions. But, viruses cause the most common ailments that GPs see so it's very likely that GPs are right to say it's viral most of the time.

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Hand-foot-and-mouth-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx

"Common things are common. Viruses are common. What do you want them to do, swab everyone that comes in?"

That is what doctors do here in Norway. You dont get antibiotics without a bloodtest measuring your CRP. A high CRP indicates a bacterial infection and ABs are prescribed, a CRP in the normal range indicates a viral infection. You can argue with your doctor, but you cant argue with the results of a bloodtest, which is basically a needle prick on your finger, by the practice nurse.

Even with the medical problems that later turn out to be something else, it's not necessarily laziness or incompetence: sometimes complications develop from a viral infection, sometimes a diagnosis simply can't be made in the early stages. That a second visit reveals something different doesn't necessarily mean the same thing was there to see at the first visit.

But I don't think any doctor can be blamed for a patient not realising that a viral infection=infectious; that is supposed to be common knowledge.

Yes my dh is lazy seeing 30 patients a day most of whom have not even a virus wrong with them. and regularly working from 8am - 9pm or later (i was 1am twice last week.

Yes, he's lazy.

Most of what doctors see is a virus.

Did you know that the common cold is a virus?

In my case, yes, a referral should have been made, actually - we were treated as being PFB despite having "given it a few days" like we were told by NHS direct, the fact that he had no fever, that he had some difficulty breathing. The DCM was what was causing the symptoms, not a virus, and he should have investigated it more. The second visit to a&e was because the symptoms had worsened and we weren't confident in the GP who had sent him home. He was already in heart failure when we went to see the GP. Yes, that's laziness and incompetence. A simple blood test would have revealed what was going on (and did, at a&e). We don't have a record of frequent trips to the GP for nothing, we don't take them in for coughs and colds or anything that can be treated at home. He did remark that it was "odd" he had no fever but did no further investigation, and was very flippant. We have always had faith in doctors etc, are NOT PFB-y, (he's not FB anyway, is 3B) and we actually took his advice for a few days. Had we continued taking his advice, I would be planning a baby's funeral right now. So yes. Laziness and incompetence.

YABU. Cannot believe you didn't realise viruses were contagious it beggars belief.

And the CRP blood test mentioned costs between £30-£50 depending on which lab you use it's not used routinely here.

In relation to the OP and HFM, I think there is a big difference between a commonplace contagious virus that kids pick up all the time and HFM. Yes, obviously viruses are contagious...but most people wouldn't keep their kids indoors for a cold. You would for HFM. I don't think OP is BU at all.

That is ridiculous pricing. Here it is done routinely, and is free of charge. It is policy not to prescribe ABs without a CRP first. A way of ensuring that ABs are only given when they are actually necessary.

My knowledge of acute phase proteins is limited but my understanding is that CRP can also be elevated with immune-mediated disease so even that wouldn't give a definitive diagnosis in the case of a PUO for example.

But I think the doctor who has spoken to the patient, and have the patients notes and history in mind, would know to interpret the results.