Churchill to test scratch horses

[hi_im_god]

Originally Posted by Storm Cadet

So trainers/vets might give meds before the test come back? Anti biotics for viral symptoms which are similar to bacterial lung infections....

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?

[ELA]

To me, as an owner, this is a foolish idea. When I look at the book, talk about races to enter, etc. -- the situation is very, very fluid. A horse gets knocked off his feed, does something, it could be a blip on the radar screen or something else.

To me, it's worth it to "buy" time and get to a race I want to get to. If the forecast is rain, I certainly don't want to miss a spot where the race might come off and I can get into a 4 horse field. If I have a back-up spot, it's worth it for me.

Once again, I don't think this is the solution to get to the desired result.

Eric

[Bobby Fischer]

not the classiest move of all time by Churchill...

maybe they are really really smart and this is a babystep in a masterplan of improvement and change among the health and testing regulations of the sport!

[Storm Cadet]

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?

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

[hi_im_god]

Originally Posted by Storm Cadet

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

so my 25 year old knowlege from working in a microbiology lab during college is out of date?

i guess i can live with that.

so long as i never have to smell that smell again.

[Riot]

As soon as you give banamine, the WBC count is depressed in about 4-6 hours (along with the fever).

Animals, fortunately, haven't developed much resistance to antibiotics so far. They do have a fear of catching staph (and could be a MDRS) from their human handlers' hands during wound care handling, etc. Culturing animals for URI isn't common, and radiographing lungs is very difficult. Even an animal on antibiotic can have a culture taken, and the results interpreted in light of the MIC and drug dose the animal has been on, so antibiotics doesn't preclude subsequent culture if required. And that doesn't even address viral stuff.

This is stupid. If a trainer wants to scratch a horse, who cares? Sometimes
an animal is just "off", and the trainer justifiably trusts their sixth sense about not running the animal, even if there is no fever, no cough, no WBC depression or elevation, etc.

Nobody has business ordering a trainer (via intimidation) to run their horse.

My impression is the racing secretary can make the life of a trainer miserable in the future if it's a bad trainer habit to scratch constantly anyway(Cannon?)

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Storm Cadet

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

i took my kids to a pediatrician once, long ago....she said viral, here's a prescrip for antibiotics. the paper went in the trash along with her phone #. docs like her a part of the problem, another part are those who take part of their meds, feel better, rest goes on the shelf...dummies.

[MisterB]

Don't forget the one's that break down, they need to be tested too!

[justindew]

Originally Posted by Danzig

i took my kids to a pediatrician once, long ago....she said viral, here's a prescrip for antibiotics. the paper went in the trash along with her phone #. docs like her a part of the problem, another part are those who take part of their meds, feel better, rest goes on the shelf...dummies.

Antibiotics are prescribed for viral infections so the body can fight off other bacterial infections while the body is weakened from fighting the viral infection.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by justindew

Antibiotics are prescribed for viral infections so the body can fight off other bacterial infections while the body is weakened from fighting the viral infection.

that's the first time i've ever heard that. and i don't think it's true.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Danzig

that's the first time i've ever heard that. and i don't think it's true.

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/fl...tibiotics-work


http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/p...ns-antibiotics

[justindew]

Originally Posted by Danzig

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/fl...tibiotics-work


http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/p...ns-antibiotics

Not one of those links contradicts what I said.

And I come from a family of doctors.

Yes, overuse of antibiotics can have negative results, such as resistance to the drug. But taking antibiotics while fighting a viral infection is common.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Danzig

that's the first time i've ever heard that. and i don't think it's true.

It's KAKA

[Storm Cadet]

Originally Posted by justindew

Antibiotics are prescribed for viral infections so the body can fight off other bacterial infections while the body is weakened from fighting the viral infection.

Again, not in my medical practice are antibiotics prescribed for viral illnesses.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Storm Cadet

Again, not in my medical practice are antibiotics prescribed for viral illnesses.

Justin said, "Antibiotics are prescribed for viral infections so the body can fight off other bacterial infections while the body is weakened from fighting the viral infection. Yes, overuse of antibiotics can have negative results, such as resistance to the drug. But taking antibiotics while fighting a viral infection is common."

He's right (although I would amend that to say, not common, but essential in those cases where antibiotics are needed to prevent predictable and anticipated secondary bacterial infection; not because the body is "weakened").

'Zig said, Antibiotics don't kill viruses, they kill bacteria. And that is absolutely true. Few kids with viral upper respiratory infection should get an antibiotic. Quite a few 80-year-old chronic bronchitis patients with influenza should.

You are both right.