Rachel Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Is it possible to have both? My daughter tested positive for strep yesterday but her symptoms are more in line with the flu. Just about everyone we know has had the flu within the last few weeks. The doctor was about to test for flu when her strep test came back positive. She's now had 3 doses of antibiotics in a little over 24 hours and seems more sick rather than better. She's been sleeping all day, is running a fever even with Tylenol, has a very low appetite, and I'm practically having to force liquids in her. Anyway, I'm just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Yes, it is possible to have both, especially as the high seasons for each overlap. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 I am sorry your DD is sick. There is no reason why a person cannot have both the flu and strep. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trulycrabby Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 (edited) Yes, I have had flu, strep, and pneumonia all at the same time; verified by tests and xray. If she is coughing, you might consider taking her back to the doc for a flu test so she can either get started on tamiflu or elderberry syrup/sambucol. Or, you could just buy some sambucol and skip the doc, but I always recommend the doc. I hope she feels better very soon! :grouphug: Edited March 16, 2017 by trulycrabby 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Definitely possible to have both. I'm sorry she's so sick. :( 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 She can have both, but rapid strep test have a crazy high false positive rate. They have a ridiculous false negative rate too. In all honesty it's a pretty useless test. The culture results in a few days will tell you if she genuinely has it. I'm so sorry either way. that has to be so miserable. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted March 16, 2017 Author Share Posted March 16, 2017 Yes, I have had flu, strep, and pneumonia all at the same time; verified by tests and xray. If she is coughing, you might consider taking her back to the doc for a flu test so she can either get started on tamiflu or elderberry syrup/sambucol. Or, you could just buy some sambucol and skip the doc, but I always recommend the doc. I hope she feels better very soon! :grouphug: She is coughing some, not a lot but I think it's because she is trying not to cough. When she finally does cough, it's so hard I think she is going to vomit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted March 16, 2017 Author Share Posted March 16, 2017 She can have both, but rapid strep test have a crazy high false positive rate. They have a ridiculous false negative rate too. In all honesty it's a pretty useless test. The culture results in a few days will tell you if she genuinely has it. I'm so sorry either way. that has to be so miserable. :( I just got over strep a couple weeks ago, I think that's why they didn't also test for flu. I almost always test negative on the rapid strep test, then they get the culture back and I'm positive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Yes. One year about a decade or more ago, all four kids tested positive for strep, AND influenza, AND pneumonia. Doctor gave hubby and I scripts for Tamiflu...but we never used them, as for the first time ever we didn't catch ANYTHING. But, boy, were those kids sick! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted March 16, 2017 Author Share Posted March 16, 2017 Yes. One year about a decade or more ago, all four kids tested positive for strep, AND influenza, AND pneumonia. Doctor gave hubby and I scripts for Tamiflu...but we never used them, as for the first time ever we didn't catch ANYTHING. But, boy, were those kids sick! Oh my! I'm fortunate my boys are not sick too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 I just got over strep a couple weeks ago, I think that's why they didn't also test for flu. I almost always test negative on the rapid strep test, then they get the culture back and I'm positive. It's just as well they didn't test her for flu. They might have pushed Tamiflu for her. It's really a bad news drug. It has a ton of potential side effects and only shortens duration by hours, if at all. It's one that made me hate my old industry. Stay away from Tamiflu! Im glad they didn't Rx it for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Yes. DS, DD, and I all had strep and both flu A and B all at the same time one year. I was actually hospitalized. It was nightmarish. I hope your DD feels better soon. ((Hugs)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 She can have both, but rapid strep test have a crazy high false positive rate. They have a ridiculous false negative rate too. In all honesty it's a pretty useless test. The culture results in a few days will tell you if she genuinely has it. I'm so sorry either way. that has to be so miserable. :( This is not true anymore. The tests vary a bit but for the most commonly used tests now the sensitivity is about 95% meaning that 5% of the time there is a false negative. The specificity is even better, it's about 98% meaning that only about 2% of the time there is a false positive. However, there is a fairly high percentage of the population that are strep carriers. Depending on how you define the carrier state the estimation of the percentage of kids that are carriers varies. But in healthy asymptomatic children it's as high as 5%. In school-age children it's been estimated as high as 40%. By definition the carrier state means that you are positive and have the bacteria in your throat but it is not causing illness. It is possible to have more than one infection at once but I think a lot of the "flu and strep" cases are people who have flu and are a strep carrier. However, when we swab someone who is positive for strep there is no way to know for sure if they are a carrier or if they have the illness. So we typically treat with an antibiotic, even if they have other symptoms that are explainable from another illness like Flu. The cases of flu I have seen this year have had really horrible sore throats, more so than in other years. My guess is that your daughter probably does have the flu. Sorry. :( Antibiotics for strep should really help within 24 hours if it is truly strep. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted March 17, 2017 Author Share Posted March 17, 2017 This is not true anymore. The tests vary a bit but for the most commonly used tests now the sensitivity is about 95% meaning that 5% of the time there is a false negative. The specificity is even better, it's about 98% meaning that only about 2% of the time there is a false positive. However, there is a fairly high percentage of the population that are strep carriers. Depending on how you define the carrier state the estimation of the percentage of kids that are carriers varies. But in healthy asymptomatic children it's as high as 5%. In school-age children it's been estimated as high as 40%. By definition the carrier state means that you are positive and have the bacteria in your throat but it is not causing illness. It is possible to have more than one infection at once but I think a lot of the "flu and strep" cases are people who have flu and are a strep carrier. However, when we swab someone who is positive for strep there is no way to know for sure if they are a carrier or if they have the illness. So we typically treat with an antibiotic, even if they have other symptoms that are explainable from another illness like Flu. The cases of flu I have seen this year have had really horrible sore throats, more so than in other years. My guess is that your daughter probably does have the flu. Sorry. :( Antibiotics for strep should really help within 24 hours if it is truly strep. Thanks! That's interesting about carriers testing positive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caclcoca Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 A good friend of ours recently had both at the same time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlmostEmptyNest Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 Yes! Add my daughter to the list of people who have had both. Last April (2016), she had both strep and influenza. It took her a good couple of weeks to get all her strength back. That was the first time I had ever heard of anyone having both at the same time. Best wishes for your daughter to get well soon! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 I wanted to add that the year three of us had it, our pediatrician said she was seeing it a lot in that time period. She called it the Double Whammy or something like that, and told us she'd seen over and over for several weeks. DS, DD, and I all tested positive for all three (flus A, B, and strep) but have tested neg many times before and since, so I don't think we are generally carriers. It was pretty horrible. :( 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara in AZ Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 Happened to us last winter. All four kids had both, and it sent my oldest DD (type 1 diabetes) to the hospital. It hung on forever! So sorry you are dealing with it. 😢 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 Strep carriers - aarugh! My kids, when little, got strep over and over and over - turns out good friends with three girls mine played with, the mom mentioned jokingly once how her oldest the doctor said had tonsils "embedded" with strep - she was a carrier but neither she nor her sisters ever got sick. We stopped playing there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted March 17, 2017 Author Share Posted March 17, 2017 Happened to us last winter. All four kids had both, and it sent my oldest DD (type 1 diabetes) to the hospital. It hung on forever! So sorry you are dealing with it. 😢 Sometimes I forget how serious the flu can be! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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