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Original poster

Worried about giving antibiotics to my children

24 replies

serenfach1 · 04/12/2022 07:43

We're away and we got an out of hours appointment yesterday afternoon because DH saw the scaremongering article about strep A. Children were diagnosed antibiotics because: oldest child is 3 years old has been unwell for 7 days. He's been getting feverish (read 39.7 yesterday). Also slightly coughy and very congested. Completely off food. Probably caught it from my youngest (18 months) who has been ill for 11 days. Same symptoms as above but less feverish and way more congested and coughy. He's got more of an appetite. They seem ok for a few hours then not right. Sleeping a lot more than usual. I'm really kicking myself because I didn't even challenge the doctor as to why she prescribed antibiotics and she didn't say they've got a bacterial infection, but DH is really happy about it as he thinks that's the best thing. To me the antibiotics are pointless and won't help if what they have is viral. Beating myself up for a) not getting more info from doctor b) giving kids antibiotics unnecessarily given all the information there is about how bad they can be for young children (resistance to bacterial infections, tummy issues, etc). I can't stop now as each child's had a dose. Am I doing the right thing or the wrong thing?

OP posts:

MammaWeasel · 04/12/2022 07:44

You could ring the Dr for clarification?

Valhalla17 · 04/12/2022 07:47

Strep A is very hard to distinguish from a cold ,so the GP is probably just erring on the side of caution given their ages and the fact that they've been ill for a while and haven't bounced back yet.

OhhhhhhhhBiscuits · 04/12/2022 07:49

They have been ill for a week! Just take the antibiotics. Give probiotics after the course to help their tummy.

BeethovenNinth · 04/12/2022 07:50

I always ask “what is alternative to antibiotics here”? Often for a skin infection you can try fucidin cream. You can wait a few days with a chest infection if Gp is happy

but there are some things you don’t mess with eg UTIs.

is there the slightest chance of strep A here?

clpsmum · 04/12/2022 08:02

OhhhhhhhhBiscuits · 04/12/2022 07:49

They have been ill for a week! Just take the antibiotics. Give probiotics after the course to help their tummy.

This

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 04/12/2022 08:04

I'll for a week and developing a fever,the GP is correct to prescribe them. Give the kids probiotics of you're concerned.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 04/12/2022 08:04

*ill

HazeyjaneIII · 04/12/2022 08:05

I would say with a temperature of 39.7 the Dr is 100% right to give antibiotics.
Infections can be triggered by viruses and sometimes several different things can be going on at once (have just been in hospital with ds who had Covid, a chest infection and massive asthma flare up)
Beethoven, leaving a chest infection for a bit, can lead to complications and I'm not sure I'd have much faith in a GP who suggested it would be ok to leave it
OP giving them the antibiotics is the right thing

Afterfire · 04/12/2022 08:05

OhhhhhhhhBiscuits · 04/12/2022 07:49

They have been ill for a week! Just take the antibiotics. Give probiotics after the course to help their tummy.

👍👍👍👍

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 04/12/2022 08:07

It's not scaremongering ffs. There's an unusually high incidence of Strep A infections and UKHSA are concerned enough to issue an alert. www.gov.uk/government/news/ukhsa-update-on-scarlet-fever-and-invasive-group-a-strep

Drs are incredibly stretched at the moment and are probably all terrified of missing a Strep A case because of the catastrophic consequences of doing so. Their threshold for prescribing amoxicillin is likely to be lower than usual, given the probability of their patient having Strep A being higher than usual.

Taking unnecessary antibiotics may upset your child's gut flora, but isn't going to make them less resistant to bacterial infections in future. Bacterial resistance is something that bacteria develop, not people.

Only you can judge how unwell your children are, but I would not hesitate to give antibiotics if my child had a temperature of over 39C and has been ill for some while.

Laquila · 04/12/2022 08:09

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 04/12/2022 08:07

Only you can judge how unwell your children are, but I would not hesitate to give antibiotics if my child had a temperature of over 39C and has been ill for some while.

Seconded. It doesn't sound as though you have any faith in your GP (in which case why go?!) but in your case I wouldn't hesitate to give the antibiotics.

Random789 · 04/12/2022 08:10

I don't think you need to be so anxious about taking antibiotics. And I'm not sure why you feel that the recent publicity about strep A is scaremongering.

I can understand you wishing you had got more info from the doctor, but I would just keep on with the meds. Bacterial resistance isn't an issue provided you make sure they take the whole course. And in any case resistance is more to do with societal overconsumption, not something your children will face as a result of their individual use of the meds.
The tummy issues (if any) are minor and maneagable.

Wisenotboring · 04/12/2022 08:10

They have been ill for quite a while. Reality is you will not definitely know if it is a bacterial infection without some swabs being taken. In terms of your children, feed them lots of fruit, veg and colour to support their microbiome. Don't worry about your children personally becoming resistant to antibiotics, that's not how antibiotics resistance works.

mabsow · 04/12/2022 08:10

You don't get diagnosed antibiotics, you get prescribed them. They've been unwell for a long time and it isn't shifting, this makes it more likely to be a bacterial infection - possibly on top of the viral one if they are already run down. None of my kids have ever had tummy issues from antibiotics and resistance is most likely to occur if you don't finish the course.

TaraRhu · 04/12/2022 08:11

The alternative to antibiotics is they stay I'll and get worse if it's bacterial or they stay I'll until a virus clears? What's to think about?

mabsow · 04/12/2022 08:13

mabsow · 04/12/2022 08:10

To clarify the bacteria become resistant to the antibiotics, not your children, it's something you don't really need to be concerned about on an individual level if you take them as prescribed. Much bigger issues surrounding antibiotic resistance come from the over use of antibiotics in animal farming.

Googlecanthelpme · 04/12/2022 08:15

Oh I think you’ve done the right thing!

I was very ill earlier in the year with a throat infection which dr said viral, it didn’t go away and 5 days later I was in hospital with a bacterial infection and a double course of antibiotics.

Whilst you don’t want to take them when you absolutely don’t have to, if there is any doubt or suggestion it’s not viral then you should. The fact they’ve been ill for this long suggests it is.

get some probiotic tablets from
boots / chemists.

Random789 · 04/12/2022 08:16

Also, even if the doc didn't actually say it was bacterial, she wouldn't be prescribing antibiotics unless she judged that bactertial infection was significantly likely. What on earth other motivation would he have? She isn't some conspirator or professional scaremongerer.

LubaLuca · 04/12/2022 08:22

Why are you sure it's viral? The doctor didn't think so.

The children have been ill for days and are suffering. Presumably you've tried paracetamol and ibuprofen and that isn't enough, so your husband did the right thing and had them examined. A course of antibiotics is not a major medical event, stop the hand wringing and hope this medication helps them to perk up soon.

PS - Giving the public warnings about outbreaks of dangerous infections is not scaremongering.

hopsalong · 04/12/2022 08:31

When I was a child children were prescribed antibiotics much more frequently. My husband and I were talking the other day about that 'lovely banana-flavoured syrup' which we both had about once a year. I took antibiotics every day for several years in my teens for acne. Only one of our DCs has ever been prescribed an antibiotic.

We have good health, no gut problems. Antibiotic resistance in the population is a problem but there isn't some terrible risk to the individual by taking a course of antibiotics. You shouldn't even be hesitating about this.

The Strep A deaths feature a number of parents who say that their child was NOT prescribed antibiotics and would be alive if they had been. Some infections (eg scarlet fever) are very susceptible to antibiotics.

JennyForeigner · 04/12/2022 10:02

We took a toddler to the GP for similar symptoms about a week ago. They were very careful - gently talked to us about out understanding of viruses and bacterial infection and based on that conversation and a crackle in the lungs were happy to say antibiotics were needed.

They aren't cavalier with this. You can trust your Doctor.

CottonSock · 04/12/2022 10:07

Doctors can never seem to do the right thing can they...

All the time you will see a thread about not prescribing antibiotics.
Of course they will be cautious at the moment. Nobody wants to miss another case of Strep A.

Prescottdanni123 · 04/12/2022 18:17

Prescribing antibiotics is not something that drs do lightly or 'just in case'. You can trust your doctor on this one and give the antibiotics.

GoingtotheWinchester · 04/12/2022 18:21

@Prescottdanni123 its absolutely recognised that there’s a huge overprescribing problem with antibiotics so that’s nonsense because we can only get them from the doctor.

Not having a go at doctors because they’re under a lot of pressure from patients who see them as the answer to everything!

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