Any pediatrician or wife here?

Posted: Thu, Jun 28 2012, 9:31 pm Post subject: Any pediatrician or wife here?

In general, my pediatrician will do a CBC if a child has fever and he can't detect the reason, like strep or ear infection... He doesn't even wait for the overnight culture, just does a CBC right away. My dh ( who isn't at all impressed with this dr.) thinks it to be a money hungry practice. What happened to waiting it out and only resorting to cbc if the fever persists? Can anyone clarify this? Tia.

Platinum Member Joined: Jun 22 2008 Posts: 6431

not a dr, just a mother who is there too often. from a cbc they can usually tell if its viral or bacterial.

Gold Member Joined: Dec 21 2008 Age: 27 Posts: 1519

As a mother, I wouldn't be happy with such a practice either. I would do some research as to how other Doctors work with such situation and would switch immediately if turns out to be questionable. With my non professional eyes this seems a bit too much.

Platinum Member Joined: Oct 14 2009 Posts: 5893

I'm not a pediatrician but I am a mom who likes and trusts her pediatrician a lot. This sounds very hasty to me unless maybe the fever is very high or stubborn. If there's no apparent strep or ear infection they usually just assume it's a virus that will pass soon enough, if it's very high and/or the child seems uncomfortable you try a little motrin or something and see what happens. My doctor only took blood when DD's fever was high for a few days straight, it was quite high and didn't go down at all over that time (except maybe a little in response to motrin)

If it's day 1 with fever why would it even be necessary to tell if it's viral or bacterial? Vast majority of kids' viruses just pass. If it doesn't you'll be back in a day or two and can give the blood then.

Moderator Joined: Aug 14 2005 Posts: 4549 Location: Ohio

I have three kids. We've used four pediatric groups (we moved, then our pediatrician moved). Currently we are in a multigroup practice, so we see lots of different doctors. The only time any of my kids have had a CBC was if they were in the hospital or with my one kid who was FTT, just to rule out any underlying issues. So three kids, total of three CBCs. I agree with your DH. That's a lot of needle sticks for a little kid and it sounds fishy. I would switch peds.
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