It might be bacterial, it's most likely viral. The doctor is hedging his bets and covering his butt by giving the antibiotics. The bad thing about antibiotics is that they too can cause gastric distress (mostly by wiping out the good bacteria in the gut).
Odds are, he has a stomach virus: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus-qa.htm The norovirus (named for Norwalk, OH, where it was first isolated)is reaching epic proportions this year. This is the bad bug that kills cruises, and whole schools at a time.
We've been up to our armpits in our hospital lab with stool specimens these past two weeks. Gotta plate those bad boys under the isolation hood.
They've all been pretty much negative for anything bacterial. This is good, because last year C Diff was running rampant through the nursing homes in the area.
So, odds are, it's viral.
The good news is that it will pass.
He needs to baby his belly however. He should stick to the brat diet: bananas, applesauce, rice and toast. No caffeine, no greasy foods.
And I second the probiotics. Oh, and no dairy except for the yogurt.
Also, keep wiping your bathroom door knob and the toilet down with Lysol wipes or something similar, or the whole house is going to come down with this bug.
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branchandroot
And now a word from the poop queen...
Date: 2007-12-14 01:01 pm (UTC)Odds are, he has a stomach virus:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus-qa.htm
The norovirus (named for Norwalk, OH, where it was first isolated)is reaching epic proportions this year. This is the bad bug that kills cruises, and whole schools at a time.
We've been up to our armpits in our hospital lab with stool specimens these past two weeks. Gotta plate those bad boys under the isolation hood.
They've all been pretty much negative for anything bacterial. This is good, because last year C Diff was running rampant through the nursing homes in the area.
So, odds are, it's viral.
The good news is that it will pass.
He needs to baby his belly however. He should stick to the brat diet: bananas, applesauce, rice and toast.
No caffeine, no greasy foods.
And I second the probiotics. Oh, and no dairy except for the yogurt.
Also, keep wiping your bathroom door knob and the toilet down with Lysol wipes or something similar, or the whole house is going to come down with this bug.