My Broth Culture Test Results Are In

[Portia17]

HI

I got the answer you and I have all been waiting for.

I have strep group D - enteroccus recovered and I need antibiotics for 2 weeks. It also lists what antibiotics I should take and ones I should never take. I just called Virginia - United Medical Labs and he said the urologist should know the dose to give me (yeah we shall see)

Then he said I should do another test after two weeks of antibiotics.

I wonder if my urologist will do it or do I have to pay another 129.00 again. I will ask on Monday

Well that is it for now

Mary

[tigger_gal]

ok what dose this mean?????? lol............
you have strep group D enteroccus. Is this a type of an infection? did they send you an explaination of this.. and I hate to ask, but, can you copy it so I can read it..
129.00 whew... wonder why they didn't tell you what meds and send it to you for that price.. I hope you don't have to pay again?
thanks for letting us know,,, but I'm like johnny 5 on short circut... need more imput :biglaugh:
Brat

[kelly McC]

Thats intersting. 129.00 WOW the one I was going to send mine too is 35.00 I wonder why so much ??? I am glad you got some answers hope your urologist is able to help...
Kelly

[Indy]

That is an extremely common normal vaginal bacteria. If the specimen wasn't taken by a catheter, it doesn't prove you have an infection. A urinalysis must also indicate white blood cells.

[Portia17]

It if is extremely common normal vaginal bacteria how come the doctors don't do this test to find this out and give appropiate medication?

[kelly McC]

Does anyone know how come its so expensive??

[Portia17]

Brat

It means it is a bacterial infection and as for the 129.00 my insurance company reimburses me so I have no problem with that

Also, the antibiotics he listed is for each individual person based on your urine. There is ia lost of some that I can take and then there was one where I would get a reaction

[Indy]

It's not considered a pathogen so it isn't tested for or ignored on a urine culture.

I'm just learning all this after seeing 2 infectious disease doctors because I thought I had 7 bladder infections in 1 year. I also sent my urine for a broth culture and it came back group strep B which is not a bladder infection.

The infectious disease doctors both said, after looking at my culture and urinalysis reports, that I never had an infection and was needlessly given antibiotics for a year.

They said the only true way is catheter specimens because the urine always touches the vaginal tissues and is hard to get a "clean" catch.

I can understand your wanting to find and treat something so your pain will go away. I'm still trying to digest this new information.

[Portia17]

Indy

You said you had strep B and mine says strep D. Do you know what the difference is?Did you try the antibiotics? I just want to know because I dont want the antibiotics for nothing and I then assume I will still be the way I am after I take them

According to this report:
one says 105 culture, urine voided with colony count and senstitivity and positive for strep group d
Other part of the test says culture, urine broth method - positive for strep group d.

I mean I am trying to figure out how long I had this and if I take antibiotics it will go away (like my pains). I am getting more confused every minute

Thanks for your help

KELLY - I don't know why it is expensive but this lab and Dr Toth in california both had the same price 129.00

[dancemomof2]

Group B Strep is also a normal vaginal strain, all pregnant women are tested for it now and it is also a very common strain of strep. I had group b with 1 pregnancy and not the other 2.

[dancemomof2]

GROUP B

Group B strep (GBS) most often affects pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and chronically ill adults.

Since first emerging in the 1970s, GBS has been the primary cause of life-threatening illness and death in newborns. GBS exists in the reproductive tract of 20-25% of all pregnant women. Although no more than 2% of these women develop invasive infection, 40-73% transmit bacteria to their babies during delivery.

About 12,000 of the 3.5 million babies born in the United States each year develop GBS disease in infancy. About 75% of them develop early-onset infection. Sometimes evident within a few hours of birth and always apparent within the first week of life, this condition causes inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord (meningitis), pneumonia, blood infection (sepsis) and other problems.

Late-onset GBS develops between the ages of seven days and three months. It often causes meningitis. About half of all cases of this rare condition can be traced to mothers who are GBS carriers. The cause of the others is unknown.

GBS has also been linked to a history of breast cancer

[dancemomof2]

GROUP D

Group D strep (GDS) is a common cause of wound infections in hospital patients. GDS is also associated with:


abnormal growth of tissue in the gastrointestinal tract


urinary tract infection (UTI)


womb infections in women who have just given birth

[Portia17]

Leslie

Is Group D bad?? Like deadly? That is what I have
I had my gallbladder removed in July 2004 and then i.c. September 2004

I am so mixed up

Thanks for your help Lesley

[dancemomof2]

http://www.moonstar.com/~icickay/articles/bacteria_ic.pdf#search='broth%20%20urine%20cultures'

This explains a broth culture also

Mary,

i also had Group D after my last C-section. I was treated with heavy duty IV antibiotic, only because I was in the hospital anyway and instead of giving me another pill they just IV'd them.
It is very treatable with antibiotics, you'll be just fine. Nothing to worry, i am sure yournew uro will help you on Monday.

Leslie

[Portia17]

Leslie:

Thanks for much for ALL your help and research.

YOU ARE THE BEST AS ALWAYS,

HUGS

[Shalai]

Mary,
The lab tech in me just had to chime in, lol. Just out of curiosity, did they tell you what species you have in your urine?

Group D Streptococcus is divided into two subgroups: Enterococcus and Non-Enterococcus. Several species in the Enterococcus group associated with human infection are: E. faecalis (approx. 80%-85%); E. faecium (approx 10%); E. durans and E. avium (along with many other species) are rarely associated with human infection.

There are only two species in the non-Enterococcus group: S. bovis (only species found in humans), and S. equinus, which is usually non pathogenic for humans.

Enterococci are normal flora of the skin, upper respiratory tract, GI tract, and genitourinary tract,and can frequently cause UTI's in humans, as well as wound infections.

Group B strep is normal flora of the GI tract, pharynx and vaginal tract. Approx 15% to 20% of females carry the organism as normal vaginal flora until pregnancy, when transmission to the baby can occur. It is a leading cause of neonatal sepsis, and also can cause pneumonia, meningitis, bacteremia, and fatality. Adult group B strep can cause infections of the skin, UTI's, endocarditis, and bacteremia.

It is possible to have a UTI without white blood cells being present in the urine. I have done microscopics on urines that were loaded with bacteria, and not one WBC present. It's true that a catherized specimen is best to prevent contamination, but if a specimen is collected using the "clean catch" method correctly, there is usually little contamination anyway. IT IS POSSIBLE that contamination of the specimen can cause something to grow out on the micro plates that may not be in the bladder, but from my experience, a tech can tell whether or not a true pathogen is present. Usually, a plate that is growing a small cluster of multiple species closest to the edge of the plate where the streak was started is considered suspect, therefore, a recollection should be ordered.

I hope this helps you some. Please keep us posted and let us know if the antibiotics are helping.

:)
Sherry

[Portia17]

I think i mentioned it GROUP D ENTEROCOCCUS

THANKS

[Shalai]

Mary,
There are several species in the Enterococcus group, with E. faecalis being the most common species. I just thought maybe they might have put in the report which one it was they found.

Sherry

[Portia17]

Sherry

It is Group D

[Indy]

Shalai:

I appreciate your comments about a UTI not requiring white blood cells. Two well respected infectious disease doctors looked at my labs and said I didn't have anything wrong with the urinalysis, meaning white blood cells, nitrates, blood, etc.

They said what grew out was normal vaginal flora.

Why did the urologists treat me for infection, and why did I feel that those "incidents" were more symtomatic than flares and why was I given antibiotics.

I can't believe the seriousness of the debate.

I don't know anything about group strep D so sorry if I confused anyone.

All I know is I felt like I had infections and felt mildly better after the antibiotics.

I was one of those that took doxycycline for 90 days (as well as my husband) when the report in the Journal of Urology came out last year. It did nothing!

I'm still afraid to wean myself off the nightly preventative macrobid.

[Portia17]

Indy

I don't get what you are saying.

You said you took doxycycline for 90 days and it did nothing ( I know that is an antibiotic)

So why do you take macrobid every night if you say the other antibiotic did nothing.

Does Macrobid help you and how long have you been on it?

[Indy]

Portia:

During the last 1 1/2 years I was treated for "multiple" bladder infections.

In between infections, I read an article that was discussed on this board , about a study showing that 70% of IC patients had success taking doxycycline for 3 months as well as their partners. It suggested we had something not showing up in our urine and hard to culture such as mycloplasma, ureoplasma, etc.

I took it as a desparate measure and though I didn't get another "infection" I felt no better at the end of it.

I've been on Macrobid for a few months, per my urologist, but am going off it now except after sex, because of what the infectious disease doctors told me.

It is very confusing!

I'm on Botox now and feel much better.