Can the county health department FORCE my child to get tested for pertussis?

[MomtoHannah]

There is a child in my daughter's school who was recently diagnosed with pertussis. My daughter has a cough, but her doctor said she doesn't think it is pertussis, plus she's had it long enough that even if it were pertussis, it wouldn't be contagious anymore, and it would be too late for any antibiotic treatment to help her.

I got a call from my doctor saying the county health department called her and said they want my daughter to get tested. My doctor admitted to me that it was an uncomfortable test, but the risks were "minimal." The test involves sticking a long swab down the nose and into the throat.

I'm very reluctant to put my daughter through an uncomfortable, potentially traumatic test, that has any risks at all (the doctor said "minimal") just so the health department can track disease on their computers. Parents have already been alerted to watch their children for signs of illness, because of the other student's diagnosis. Information obtained from the test would be no benefit to my daughter or to people she has contact with (as she is no longer contagious).

[earthmama369]

I don't think they can force you to bring her in for a swab, but I'm not positive.

[ammiga]

I'd just ignore the call and screen all future ones. If they try to demand the test and threaten action, tell them you want a written demand documenting their legal basis for putting your dd at risk for the complications associated with the test. Also look up how long after symptoms on-set and departure the test is accurate for... I'm sure your dd has been feeling better for at least that long

[crunchy_mommy]

I doubt they can force it, maybe if they try you can just tell them her cough's already gone?

I heard some stories that if you test positive then the health dept has to follow up on you & you may need to quarantine your house or something. I don't know how true that is, but either way I don't think I'd want to put my kid through an uncomfortable test just for the sake of statistics...

[MomtoHannah]

We've been loading her up on sodium ascorbate, vitamin D, and probiotics for the past 2 days, and she is hardly coughing at all anymore. This was certainly motivation to get serious about stopping the cough.

Other than the fact that she's had it for a long time, her cough and symptoms fit none of the descriptions for pertussis.

I've been researching the test, and these days, the PCR test is usually done, which gives results quickly, but also has an extremely high rate of false positives. I wouldn't be surprised if the child in her school had a false positive.

And based on a lot of reading yesterday, I would be very surprised if the health department had any authority to force the test on her in this situation. I don't think they would have any recourse, either, (such as keeping her out of school), since it's established medical fact that pertussis is no longer contagious after 21 days of coughing. Of course, they want people to think they have the authority. Even her doctor sounded intimidated by them when I talked on the phone with her. It's the government!!! lol.

[MomtoHannah]

update

During that phone conversation with the doctor, I told her which lab to send the test requisition to. But then I decided to wait and see what would happen. I never brought my daughter to the lab to get tested, and nobody ever called me back about it. Not the doctor, health department, or school.

One good thing came of this--it got me really motivated to take care of the cough, with sodium ascorbate, vitamin D, and probiotics. With that treatment, the cough that had lasted more than a month completely disappeared within 4 days.