Is treatment with flagyl necessary in my son's case?

[Dj12187]

Hi Everyone
My son is 4 years old. He caught a salmonella infection on our vacation for which he was given sulfamethaxazole TMP. Salmonella diarrhea got better in 2 days but then he caught the c diff. which gave him diarrhea which actually wasn't much. But i still gave him probiotics which caused fever. So i stopped it all together.
He has no fever since then and has had good bowel movements for the most part but he does get a diarrhea once every week or so (I have noticed it happens when it's too hot outside and he doesn't drink much water). His stool tested positive for toxins A and B yesterday (blood was normal). My question is, if he doesn't have any major symptoms does he need antibiotics. Doctor prescribed flagyl but looking at the side effects of it and seeing that my sons poop is normal I am not so sure.

[roy]

A test is only half of the diagnosis and a Dr MUST look at the symptoms as well, if both don't match then there's no disease!
Treating could even cause it to go full blown.
I would get a second oppinion from a c.diff expert.

[OCmama]

100% agree with Roy. Please get an appointment with an ID, a well meaning but under-informed ped could set you up for a C. diff disaster. I wish that I would have taken my daughter immediately to an ID rather than killing off her good gut flora with flagyl, setting her up for multiple relapses. I also wish that I would not have been inappropriately treated with "prophylactic" Vancomycin :-/ There is a lot of confusion about C. diff and how to treat it, even within the medical community.

My oldest son (6) had mild diarrhea (going 3-5 times per day) + fatigue + occasional vomiting with his positive C. diff results. The ID on our case advised not to treat. My son recovered in about 10-14 days, although he tired easily for a couple months. But his stools returned to normal, and went back to going one time per day.

In my daughter's case I wish I would have seen an expert from the very beginning. It would have saved us 6 months, a lot of heart-ache and thousands of dollars.

[georgina]

I would not give him the Flagyl either at least for now, he's symptoms seem very mild and his immune system is already fighting the infection by itself , but I would however keep a close eye on symptoms and also have a script with me to fill in if things start to go south. Also , i would get a second opinion about treatment in case he need the meds , Flagyl is a drug with lots of side effects that often fails to cure the infection , i would look into vanco.

[beth22]

Vanco is easier to take with fewer side effects, but I have to say that it set me up for multiple relapses as well. I was better off before I treated. Get a second opinion, but I would wait on the Flagyl until you do so - agree with the others.