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Originally Posted by hi_im_god
if you culture a sample that means you take a swab from the suspected infection, wipe it in a growth medium, put the medium in a controlled environment...
and wait...
and wait...
you get the point.
if your spouse had an illness would you want the doctor to wait until he knew the specific problem before he administered a broad spectrum antibiotic?
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I'm in the medical field with a patient load of over 350 patients each day and YES...we don't prescribe anti biotics until we get a positive test. Nowadays we do in house strep and mono tests that take 5 minutes. We get cultures back in 24 hours. We will call in the script ONLY with a positive culture.
In case you have not been reading the papers lately, MRSA staph super bugs are spreading here exactly because broad spectrum meds are dispensed before a correct diagnosis is made. And IF broad spectrum meds are given and taken, then a blood test culture test 24-48 hours later is now void and not valid.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/antibiotics/FL00075
http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?id=...detail&ref=519
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/85910.php
http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/abstract/134/6/479