Need a Doctor or antibiotic script ASAP

[RogueTango]

It is official, I was hoping it wan't but I have strep throat. I do not have insurance, or much money. What to do? I have heard you can just walk into pharmacies and ask for antibiotics, but since I don't know the names of them here, and I am allergic to pencillin, that is problematic. Advice please? I need a cheap Dr, or the the name of a good antibiotic. Before this get's any worse...

 

[mini]

Go to one of the public hospitals. You'll have to wait. But it's free. One of the other members did just that recently. Here you can read all about it:
http://www.tourist2townie.com/tourist2townie-blog/2010/2/6/health-care-in-argentina.html

 

[Lala]

oh no! I feel your pain. I am allergic to penicillin too, and have come down with strep quite a few times down here. Just go to a local farmacy and ask for Azithromicina - the 5 or 6 pill pack. They sell it in packs of 3 too. But I would be safe and take the longer dose. In the States, this is the equivalent of a "Z-pack", if that is familiar to you. They will probably have a few different brands - just go with which one is cheapest...it´s all the same medicine!

Good luck, and feel better!

 

[Lala]

oh, it´s not expensive either. I think I paid 30 pesos for the longer dose pack last time.

 

[RogueTango]

friend in med school recommended the same thing, just went to farmacity and got 500mg x 5 for 39 pesos! thanks for the advice, hopefully this time tomorrow I should feel a bit better.

 

[HenryNisental]

I do not know your financial situation, but I can visit a doctor in a nearby clinic for 26 pesos (7 dollars).
If you need a translator I could help you.
Henry

 

[orwellian]

Maybe you should leave the diagnosis to doctors before deciding to take antibiotics. Go private if you don't like waiting, it's not that expensive

 

[billsfan]

yes... fever and a sore (and red) throat do not translate automatically into "i have streps".
2 ways to go before taking antibiotics:

1. wait 5-6 days (95% respiratory infections are viral)
2. doctors can perform an exudado or similar tests to get the infection agent fast (strep tests are immediate)

Abuse of antibiotics is a greater problem when Penicilin has been already abused over decades and now Azytromicin is taken as candy and sold cheap.

Soon we will be defenseless against stronger and stronger bacteria.

 

[billsfan]

And by the way, I'm no doctor but Amoxicilin is the usual choice here for strep throats. Azytromicin is in vogue due to its few doses (although effects last 10 days), but it's a more general spectrum type of antibiotic.
Dentists are the number 1 fan of Az.