November 9, 2007
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Charlottesville, Virginia, USA:
About five weeks ago, my two and a half-year-old daughter had her first urinary tract infection (UTI). She was medicated with antibiotics. Two weeks ago, she had a fever of 103.9 so we took her to the pediatrician who tested her urine for a recurrent UTI. This came back negative, but there was sugar in her urine and ketones. So, they checked her blood sugar level and it was 254 mg/dl [14.2 mmol/L]. She was admitted into the hospital for a diabetes diagnosis. They continued to check her blood sugar levels, which dropped. When we left the hospital, it was 154 mg/dl [8.6 mmol/L]. They told us a virus could have caused the ketones in urine and high blood sugar levels. They also sent blood work to the laboratory. That was 11 days ago. The blood work still has not gotten back. We have had her on a strict diet until we find out. How long does blood work usually take to get back? Our endocrinologist doesn’t seem to know. Is it common for a virus to cause these symptoms? Should we get a second opinion?
Answer:
The length of time it takes for blood tests to come back depends on the laboratory used and which tests were done. It should take hours for glucose and insulin levels and a test called “hemoglobin A1c” – another way to assess blood glucose over time – to come back. My guess is that they sent away a test for pancreatic antibodies. These tests should come back within 7 to 14 days. I would be surprised that a pediatric endocrinologist would not know that. Such pancreatic antibody testing must be sent to laboratories with good expertise in doing these tests.
“Not all that is hyperglycemia is diabetes – but it usually is.” Yes, an infection or “virus” could have lead to a series of circumstances that lead to elevated glucose and the presence of ketones.
PLEASE review this web site for examples of the previous questions that we have answered about the Diagnosis and Symptoms of diabetes.
DS
