Virus?

Thursday last week, MJ woke up and complained about not feeling well and said he wanted to stay home. His temperature didn't feel unusually warm so I made him go to school. That was very silly of me! It turned out he was right and I was wrong and I should have believed him. He said he stayed at the nurse' office for 25 minutes and went back to class still not feeling good. What's strange was that nobody from his school notified me about his condition. Anyway, we were out of Tylenol or Motrin so hubby had to rush to the store to buy both. Tylenol works 4-6 hours and Motrin works 6-8 hours. These medicines did work about the same time it said it should. After it wears out, MJ's temperature would go back up again. His temperature would vary from 101.5 to 103.5 degrees F. The latter would drive me nuts. Aside from giving him the medicine, I'd start giving him cold sponge bath (3 to 5 times) and have him hold a ziploc half-filled with ice (covered in a washcloth tucked on both ends with rubber bands) over his head or forehead to help his temperature to go back down.

We went to see his doctor on Saturday who checked his ears, nose, throat and his breathing. Everything was fine except for his throat. It was a bit red, according to the doctor, but not that much to cause him a temperature over 102 degrees F. He said what MJ has may be virus so the fever may run from 3-5 days. He said to keep up with the Motrin (he preferred Motrin over Tylenol). He also prescribed Cefzil, an antibiotic. We left the office with me feeling a little relieved/worries minimized. Well, that's how I normally feel after a doctor's visit thinking that I finally did something "right" for my child. That having a doctor check him will finally give me accurate answers/diagnosis. I wasn't thinking when he handed me that prescription. I was so occupied at how much relief MJ would feel once he takes the medicine. Something does not add up well.

I checked WebMD today and confirmed my doubts. Antibiotics will not work on virus infections at all. The use of antibiotics if not needed may even cause the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. So my big question is WHY? Why an antibiotic? Did I just pay a $20 copay for a misdiagnosis and obviously an incorrect prescription? Did I just pay $10 for an antibiotic that may be completely unnecessary? *Sigh*

Today, MJ has been sick for 6 days and taking the antibiotic for 4 days. But as of 11 am today, his temperature remains at 100 degrees F. I want to let out a sigh of relief but I want to hold that for a while. If for the whole day his temperature stays that way, then I will. For the meantime, I'd be constantly checking his temperature.