To think GP’s are meant to be lenient with prescribing antibiotics?

[Gem123J]

My DD (4 years old) woke up this morning with a headache, checked her temp and it was 38.6 so gave her calpol at 8am. Couple of hours later she was still complaining of a headache and said her forehead was hot so checked her and she was 39.3 so gave her ibuprofen at around 11am. Checked her temp again before we left the house to go for a walk and she was 38.6 and was happy in herself so we carried on with the walk. While on the walk she was totally fine, happy and running around playing “monsters”! We went for a drive and around 3pm she was very pale, lethargic and just wanted to cuddle and wasn’t herself at all, checked her temp and it was back up and was now 40.1 so gave her calpol and decided to call 111 because she was also complaining of sore throat, headache seemed to be bothering her more because she was wincing and she was also complaining of belly ache, her tonsils look inflamed too. We stripped her down and had a call back off the triage nurse, then the GP and was told to come in for an out of hours GP appointment later in the evening. While waiting for the call back her temp went up to 40.2 and we gave her ibuprofen at 5.30pm.

She didn’t want anything to eat but she did manage to drink and had 2 of the baby cucumbers but didn’t want anything else. Her temp went down with the ibuprofen like it had done earlier. She perked up a bit before the appointment and her temp went down to 38.6 and the GP checked her lungs, checked her ears and her mouth but didn’t seem to be concerned about her tonsils and just said it’s most likely viral.

I am obviously a bit concerned because her temp had got so high even with alternating calpol/ibuprofen every 2-3 hours (we were told to alternate off her GP last time she had a high temp that was still rising last year). And there have been local cases of strep a and I thought that GP’s were told to have a low threshold for prescribing antibiotics because viral and bacterial infection symptoms are indistinguishable in the very beginning.

Obviously I’m going to keep a close eye on her tonight but it is a bit scary when you read stories of children who were told they had a viral infection and were seriously ill a few hours later. My friend took her son to their GP last week and was told he had a viral infection, she wasn’t happy with the response and had husband to take him the following day and they swabbed him and prescribed antibiotics and it came back as strep a. I know not all cases are fatal but should I have pushed for the GP to take a swab? All he said was keep an eye out and if she still has a high temp in 5 days to take her back. Has anyone experienced the same thing lately?

Obviously if I thought my daughter was seriously unwell then I wouldn’t be waiting around, it’s just crazy how one minute she looks absolutely awful, but perks up and looks like a different child the next and is just up and down like that!

Do you really think that telling someone that they have a “frightening” “Trip Adviser mentality” towards healthcare is professional and polite?

Low threshold doesn’t mean everyone with a sore throat and fever gets antibiotics. That would literally be the majority of children over the winter! You were right to get her checked, if anything changes take her back.
fever is a normal and healthy response to any type of infection. She’s sick her body is responding, get her to rest and not go out for walks etc
bacterial infections are often opportunistic secondary infections after viruses. Because you’re examined one day and told it’s a virus, the next day your condition changes and you’ve devoleped a bacterial infection does not mean that the bacterial infection was ‘missed’ and you should have been given antibiotics. Most bacterial infections will also resolve in healthy people with no treatment. Antibiotic resistance hasn’t gone away and it seems likely that it’s going to cause increasing difficulty treating life threatening infections.
its not wrong to get her checked whenever youre worried

@TerraNostra

exactly. There has been quite a few unprofessional and impolite statements by @Quincythequince. Very judgemental and narrow minded attitude. OP has supplied countless evidence backing what they had said, although not in the title nor OP, but at the end of the day it’s a thread on Mumsnet not an article in a medical journal so every single bit of information isn’t going to be supplied at the very beginning. Forum’s are for discussions from what I believe, not for statements. OP isn’t stating anything, just discussing what they have read and asking for advice from others who have been in the same position, they have made that certainly clear, many times.

Op you are a carer, not a doctor. Leave decisions on whether antibiotics are needed or not to the professionals, then accept and understand their decision, without rushing to MN to bash them. You over reacted but anyway you have received medical advice so accept it. Based on the information you have posted most would not have not sought antibiotics (especially after such a short time)

Interesting that the 'doctors' on this thread don't seem to know much about global contributors to AB resistance but love to patronise worried parents who have been told that ABs will be more readily prescribed due to the current situation. In many countries, especially developing nations, indiscriminate AB use is rife. They are sold on the black market, locals and western tourists buy them whenever they feel they need them, no doctor needed, provided they have the cash. Online pharmacies also provide AB without prescriptions. All that superior attitude yet rather uninformed 😂.

Hi Op
I feel like you've had a bit of a roasting for no reason, and you've been nothing but polite.
I of course also heard about GP'S and the suggested leniency around strep A.

I'm glad your girl is on the mend, I would have been very anxious if my 3 year old had such a temperature. Stressful times for mums. Time for a wine!

Poor use of antibiotics in the developing world means that clinicians in the NHS here shouldn’t be reducing antibiotic prescribing where it isn’t needed?

What a stupid point. Has nothing to do with this thread. It’s not pp who are the uninformed ones here!

I didn’t say that.

Asking for others advice whilst denigrating that of GPs.

Ok then, that all seems in order.

Can’t believe this thread is going.

And the OP said she ‘worked in healthcare’
Clear as day.

It Implies a level of knowledge or insight that quite frankly, isn’t there and shouldn’t be leveraged in a debate here.

As a previous PP already stated, OP only mentioned working in healthcare in passing to explain she had easy access to covid tests and had already tested…

@memorial to be fair almost all the people
I've known have needed a second dose have been in hospital, but my very young DD did when her severe chest infection had gone untreated for months at the start of the pandemic because nobody would see her with a cough.

My apologies, that comment was indeed made by @SavoirFlair after she quoted something that you said.
Nonetheless, this reference to Daily Mail - neuroses is yours, is similarly insulting and unprofessional and wrongly accuses OP of thinking that GPS should prescribe antibiotics “Willy nilly”. I don’t know why you have such a problem accepting that OP did not set out to “GP bash” and was simply looking for insight into how GPs were interpreting the guidance she had read. What exactly do you gain from being nasty to a worried mother? You could have made your factual point in a kind and empathetic way but you happily use the anonymity of Mumsnet to say things that you would never say to a patient’s face. Perhaps it’s an outlet for you since real life does require you to maintain some veneer of humanity. Hope you feel better.

The sneering and ignorant trip advisor comment was from @SavoirFlair . There are some seriously antiquated opinions on this thread, I'm sorry OP, don't let them put you down. You are quite right, there was a brief period of time at the beginning of December, when GPs were advised to prescribe AB if a child presented with specific symptoms, I'm not sure this is the case any longer. It's perfectly ok and understandable to be confused and to seek opinions online, usually there are some very helpful and educated people on MN, you were unlucky with your thread. Our health service is shockingly bad now, no wonder people take to forums for advise when it's almost impossible to get appointments. People are waiting 48 hours for a call back from 11 and sometimes it never comes. It has been suggested that the reason why so mean children died from Step A this year is because of barriers to accessing care and that several were misdiagnosed and sent home being told it's just a virus. Don't let rude posters silence you, not everyone is able to ask friends or family when they're worried.

..call back from 111 and sometimes it never comes. It has been suggested that the reason why so many children

And here @Quincythequince says she is not being unpleasant and isn’t bullying, but then goes to ask this person if they are the OP’s minder! What does that tell you about this so called “professional and polite doctor?”

And as others have said, OP was simply asking if anyone else had an similar experience to hers. They never questioned the on call doctors credibility and instead believed “Dr educated By Google”, or were you referring to OP themselves there.

And I don’t believe OP didn’t like being told they were wrong. They were merely explaining why they said what they said (that they had numerous articles - some by trusted sources even not just Daily Mail etc.). I think it is you who does not like to be told pretty much anything that goes against your narrow minded views.

And as @UmbilicusProfundus said, OP only said she worked in healthcare in passing, that is all. You are clinging on to your own false statements as ammunition. OP was completely correct too, you have made a lot of assumptions about them. You’re clutching at straws @Quincythequince.